Degrassi Island
by Ennon
Summary: Emma,Manny,JT and Toby stumble onto island not knowing what or who to expect. AU Chapter Seven is here. STORY COMPLETE!
1. Brainstorm

****

'Degrassi Island'

by Ennon

Disclaimers:

'Degrassi' and its characters are the properties of Epitome Productions and I'm making no money whatsoever from this fanfic.

A/N- For the story purposes, Emma, Manny, Toby and J.T. are friends with each other but have no previous acquaintance with anyone else here -besides Archie 'Snake' and Christine'Spike' Nelson Simpson.

Emma was in her room half-asleep atop her covers while trying to read travelogue books and brochures.

"Em, it's three in the morning! Lights out!" 'Spike' Nelson Simpson half-whispered as she opened the door to her daughter's room.

"Just a few more minutes, Mom!" Emma Nelson pleaded.

"You've got a big day ahead so you need your rest, young lady!" 'Spike' gently reminded Emma.

"So do you. What are you doing up, Mom?" Emma asked.

" Nature called for the zillionth time," 'Spike' half-laughed as she patted her expanded abdomen and walked towards Emma's bed.

" Are you sure you're okay with me going away a week?" Emma asked- looking worried while patting her mother's abdomen- and imagining her baby half-sibling inside.

" Emma, 'Snake' and I are proud you and your friends have been chosen to represent your school! We'll _all_ be fine!"'Spike' insisted as she and Emma clutched hands.

"OK, I'll finish this chapter then turn in," Emma sighed.

"Go to sleep. Now!" insisted 'Spike'.

"This page?" Emma asked- as 'Spike' laughed and took the travelogue out of Emma's hands.

"Goodnight, Em!" 'Spike' insisted as she kissed Emma on the forehead while hugging her.

"Goodnight, Mom," Emma sighed as she kissed her mother and hugged her before drawing the covers and climbing underneath as her mother left the room.

"Is it time to drive Emma to the airport?" the bedheaded, 'Snake' Simpson asked as he knocked outside the door.

"'Snake', let's go back to sleep!" 'Spike' laughed as she left Emma's room and closed the door behind her then led her half-asleep new husband back to bed.

"A whole week in Bermuda and our first time in the ocean!" Manuela 'Manny' Santos squealed- as she, Emma, Toby and J.T. were wearing shorts, Hawaiian shirts and sports sandals while riding a small motorboat.

" I didn't think we'd ever ditch those tweedy teachers. I hope we can shoot enough different coral samples in your cell-camera for that project back home," Emma sighed.

"Ladies, didn't I tell you we'd pull it off?" James Tiberius 'J.T.' Yorke gloated.

"I'm not sure we should have lifted this boat," Toby Isaacs cautioned.

" For the thousandth time, Tobes,we told 'Cappy Jack' it was for my dad- and charged it to Dad's credit card. By the time we get this back along with all those photos and win the 1st Biology Prize, he'll be too smug to get pissed when he gets the statement,"J.T. smirked.

"Are you sure you can steer this thing?" Manny asked as they were getting further from the Bermuda 'mainland', 

"I've tons of experience!" J.T. insisted.

"Paddling around Lake Ontario's not the same," Emma sighed.

"Ocean currents," Toby added.

"Relax, Grandma! What could possibly go wrong?" J. T. asked.

BOOM a thundercloud clapped.

"Where did that cloud come from?" Emma gulped in a panic.

"Can you see the shoreline?" Manny asked.

"Don't panic! I'll just punch in 9-1-1 and ask for bearings on the cell," J.T. insisted.

"Out of range," the phone robotically replied.

Suddenly they thundercloud opened and the four of them got soaking wet from the intense downpour.

"The boat compass is stuck. J.T. bring out your pocket one!" Toby insisted.

"A math compass?"Emma wailed.

"You said to bring along a compass," J. T. shrugged.

"Yeah, like we really need to dissect triangles now!" Toby yelled while Emma and Manny banged J.T.'s shoulder.

"Hang on! We're in a full-fledged storm!" J. T. shouted.

"We're all gonna die!" Manny cried.

"Manny!" Emma groaned.

"Well, that's what they always say in the movies," Manny shrugged.

"Great, J.T! We're stuck in a storm in the middle of the Atlantic and it's all your fault!" Emma boiled.

"My fault? You're the one who insisted we try to find rarer species of coral to photograph instead of just the ones on the beach or Bermudan Marine Institute!"J.T. yelled.

"Well, you're the one who insisted that we go on this boat without any adults steering it- without having checked the forecast!" Emma yelled.

"Yeah. Now we're in a boiling soup pot and it's all your fault!" Toby screamed as he hit J.T.

"You three didn't have to listen to me," J. T. insisted as he hit Toby back.

"Guys, we need to work together to survive!" Manny pleaded.

"She's right!" Emma insisted.

The storm shut out all sunlight long before nightfall and the four tied on their life vests while trying to hang on. The motor soon died leaving them no choice but to hold on while constantly bailing out the water with buckets a fraction as fast as the ocean waves poured in. They never would be sure how long the storm lasted nor by what path it took their tiny motorboat but all four blacked out from exhaustion and panic after a time.

"CoughGag!" Toby coughed and gagged- losing the last meal he'd had before the voyage. 

He opened his eyes- grateful that he was alive and that somehow his glasses had stayed on throughout that terrible storm.

"We're on land again!" Toby gasped as he struggled to his feet.

"We made it back to Bermuda! J.T? Emma? Manny?" Toby shouted.

"Tobes, we're not in Bermuda," J.T. groaned as he sat on the beach with his head slumped.

"We're not? But the nearest land's Cape Hatteras," Toby insisted.

"We somehow made it to this small sandbar," J.T. pondered.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Toby asked.

"You and the others were already pissed at me last night. .. and I can't find the others?" J. T. groaned.

"They got to be here somewhere! They can't have drowned! Come on, let's start looking for 'em!" Toby insisted.

"There's not much to cover here. Just this sandbar and a big cloud next to it," J.T. surmised.

"We're gonna cover every inch! Maybe they're still in the boat!" Toby insisted.

"I dunno,"J.T. groaned.

"Come on! We just can't sit here!" Toby pleaded as he dragged his best friend off the sandy slope he was sitting on.

"Here's something- a footprint!" J.T. a short time later insisted after they got closer to the cloudbank.

"Too big to be Emma's or Manny's. Besides, we're all wearing sports sandals and this one's bare!"Toby. insisted.

"Maybe it's Bigfoot or a native we could get to send smoke signals," J.T. pondered.

"J.T. Bermuda never had any natives before the English discovered it," Toby groaned.

"Well, this island's not supposed to be here either," J.T. snapped.

"Good point! There he is!" Toby gulped in a whisper.

The two ran behind a clump of palm trees.

"Look at the size of him!"J.T. panicked.

"He's got enough metal in his ears to pick up satellite!"Toby insisted.

"He sure looks mean!" J.T. gulped- as the 'native' in front of them suddenly ran behind the clearing.

"Where did he go?" J.T. asked.

"Right behind us!" Toby gulped in a panic.

"GRRR", the 'native' growled- as he grabbed their upper arms in vice-like grip.

"With that bleach blond hair, I'd say he's Australian Aborigine," Toby insisted.

"But we're nowhere near Australia," J.T. argued.

"Tell _him_ that!" Toby gulped.

"GRROWL!" the 'native' growled with quite a bit of saliva over his vocal chords while baring his teeth.

The 'native' ,wearing cargo shorts,tank top, and a puka necklace grabbed the two smaller boys by the arms.

"Me Bwana Toby! Me and Bwana J.T. come in peace," Toby pleaded.

"We're 'bwanas' now?"J.T. whispered to Toby.

"Yeah," Toby whispered as he nodded.

"Let us go or we'll make angry flash god punish you!" J.T. insisted as he suddenly flashed the cell-phone camera in the 'native's face.

"I know that's a cell-camera and I speak English, morons!" the 'native' insisted- as he took away J.T.'s cellphone and pocketted it.

"You're. .. .?" J.T. gulped.

"Call me Spinner- Viceroy and Commanding General of Degrassi Island. I'm taking you to the Kahuna Jimmy! He'll see if you get to live or _die_!"Spinner snarled as he bodily picked up the two scared friends under each arm while walking away with them as they were unsure what was going to happen next- and clueless about Emma and Manny.


	2. Sacrifice Squad

****

Chapter Two- 'The Sacrifice Squad' 

by Ennon

Disclaimers: Same as Chapter One.

"Where are you taking us?" J.T. asked as Spinner half-carried/half-dragged him and Toby.

"You'll see," Spinner grunted.

At that moment, the cloud lifted and the 'sandbar' was revealed to be a tiny spit jutting out from a much larger island- dominated by a very tall mountain in the center.

"Whoa! That volcano must be at least 2 kilometers tall! Is it still active?" Toby asked.

" Wouldn't you like to know, dude! Heh!Heh!Heh!" Spinner laughed while baring his teeth at his two captives.

"Emma! Wake up!" Manny awoke then called as they were floating in their waterlogged boat.

"I'll wash the dishes tomorrow, Mom," Emma groaned.

"No! It's morning and we're coming to an island!" Manny squealed.

" Where's J.T. and Toby?" Emma asked.

" I think they got tossed overboard but I'm sure they're okay. Maybe they've made it to this island Come on, the storm's over and maybe we can get those two girls to help us!" Manny insisted.

"Look, Ashley! A boat! I can see my Mum again!" Terri MacGregor called out as she waved towards the boat and Ashley were on the beach putting clamshells into a large wooden homemade wheelbarrow. Each were wearing grass skirts, shirts and straw and cloth espadrilles but Ashley's were all in black while Terri's were in color.

"No, you can't," Ashley Kerwin quietly sighed.

"I'm sorry. I keep forgetting," Terri sniffed.

"It's OK! We're your family now!" Ashley insisted as she grabbed Terri's hand.

"But they could help us," Terri insisted.

"Go back! Turn around!" Ashley called out to Emma and Manny.

"Can you hear what they're saying?" Manny asked.

"I think they're welcoming us!" Emma insisted as she frantically paddled towards the shore.

"Terri! Let's make a run for it! Now!" Ashley insisted as the two ran back towards the trackless jungle behind the beach.

"Where did they go?" Manny asked.

"We're too close to shore to turn back now- and I'm sick of ocean! Let's put her aground!" Emma insisted as they did so then tried to follow Ashley and Terri.

"This mountain sure is steep! How much further, Spinner?" J.T. asked- as Spinner growled.

"We're coming to a clearing! Look!" Toby insisted.

Perched on a ledge was a clearing complete orange and apple trees, banana plants, a few rows of corn and gourd plants a wooden barn with a fenced pigpen (containing several sows and large boar) , cow stalls and a chicken coop. Inside all this was a group of wooden and straw huts that encircled a large plaza complete with a bamboo gazebo that had two whicker. .. thrones in the center. 

About a dozen or so pairs of eyes of teens who were working the fields and livestock as Spinner led the friends to the stage.

"What's going on, Spin?" Jimmy Brooks asked as he emerged from the back of the gazebo-wearing a Hawaiian shirt, slacks, espadrilles.. and a bamboo crown.

"Oh, Kahuna Jimmy. Benevolent King of Degrassi Island, I give you these captives, dude!" Spinner insisted as he bowed while pulling down J.T and Toby then kicking them in the backs of their knees to force them to bow while tying them together.

"You know we must have the full Assembly!" Jimmy insisted- as he walked towards the conch shell hanging from one of the gazebo rafters

"Hey, can I give the call?" Spinner asked as Jimmy was about to put the conch shell to his mouth.

"No, Spin. You know what happens. .." Jimmy groaned.

"But these are my captives," Spinner insisted.

"Alright, but try not to. .. ." Jimmy sighed as Spinner sounded the conch shell exactly like. .

"That sounds like the world's biggest _fart_!" J. T. gasped in astonishment.

"Cool, huh?" Spinner laughed.

"Silence until the Assembly's all here!" Jimmy insisted.

"Spinner's got the conch! We'd better hurry!" Terri gulped to Ashley while Emma and Manny pursued.

"Wait!" Emma pleaded.

"Just let us go! We'll pretend we never saw this place. Help us find Emma and Manny," Toby pleaded.

"Girls, eh?" Spinner smiled.

"Er… he meant Em_met_ and Manfred!"J.T. gulped.

"Hey. I've already got mine and. ." Spinner growled.

"Just let us go! There's no reason for us to stay here," J.T. gulped

"Spinner! Haze and I were in the middle of painting our nails! This better be important," Paige boiled as she glared over her sunglasses as she and Hazel Aden hobbled into the plaza while clutching straws between their freshly painted toes, trying to keep their flip-flops on- both wore sarongs with exposed midriffs.

"Hey! I'll stay and be your valet, you goddess!" J.T. swooned.

"Dude! Go near her and I _won't_ knock you unconscious before using you for shark chum!" Spinner growled.

Toby gulped but J.T. tried to catch Paige's eye while she sneered at him.

Ashley and Terri ran into the plaza out of breath while Ashley climbed into the gazebo and took Jimmy's outstretched hand before the two of them sat down on their thrones in silence.

"Oh, I thought you were the queen!" J.T called to Paige.

"Nah, I've got my own power!" Paige insisted.

"She's mine and I'm hers!" Spinner snarled.

"J.T? Toby? What are you all doing here- and who are all these folks?" Emma burst in before Manny could stop her.

"Oh, Spin! You got me more Squad Members!" Paige gushed as she planted a kiss on Spinner's cheek.

"Squad members?" Manny asked.

"Yes. I'm Paige Michelchuk- the Sacfice Squad Leader! As you can see, Degrassi Island is dominated by a semi-active volcano we've named Hesphestion- after the Greek volcano god or Festy for short. To keep our island from having like a zillion tons of ash and lava dumped upon it which, would like, wipe out our crops, village and scorch our cool threads, we have to appease Festy with worthy girls!" Paige explained.

"You mean, sacrifice us?" Manny gulped.

"Well, yeah! That's why it's called the Sacrifice Squad! Duh!" Paige sneered.

"SCREAM!" Manny screamed.

"That's, _perfect_, hun! Festy will love it!" Paige gushed.

"Paige! We're in the 21st Century! Everyone knows that volcanoes are controlled by magma deposits and not virgin sacrifices!"Emma boiled.

" You don't want to do this, fine! You can help with the fieldwork!" Paige insisted.

"Paige, you're not listening! We can evacuate this island and. .." Emma tried to plea.

"Hazel! Muzzle her, _please_!" Paige groaned.

"Don't muzzle my friend," Manny insisted.

"I'd have thought you'd thank us for that," Paige sniffed as Hazel muzzled Emma-despite Emma trying to fight her off.

"Do you have a radio, a phone or 'Net connection?" Toby asked.

"You two have caused enough trouble!" Jimmy insisted.

"Can I make 'em shark chum?" Spinner asked.

"Nah. The pigpen and latrines could use some renovation. They look too scrawny for any real work!" Jimmy sneered.

Emma bit around the muzzle cloth as Paige led and Hazel led Manny away.

"Where are you taking her?" Emma asked.

"Training! She'll require quite a bit of it before tonight's big show for Festy," Paige sneered.

"Great! Emma's feeding the livestock, Manny's going to be sacrificed and now we're up to our butts in pig muck! Thanks a lot, Yorke!" Toby boiled.

" Hey, it could be worse, Tobes!" J.T. insisted.

"Hey guys! Sorry I had to miss the Assembly but I was working on a project," a girl in a tricorner hat,grass skirt, shirt, lei and glasses beamed as she strolled up to the pigpen.

"And you are. ..?" Toby asked.

"Liberty Van Zandt. Degrassi Island's Science Minister- and I could use your help!" Liberty insisted as she shook J.T.'s hand.

"Great! I know a lot about science! I can. .. " Toby pleaded.

"Not you. Him!"Liberty giggled as she winked at J.T.

"Um. .. " J.T. gulped.

"Or would you rather stay in the pigpen?" Liberty asked.

"I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" J.T. shouted.

"Oh, Ashley! Even if we can't leave, it's not fair to these newcomers!" Terri whispered as she and Ashley walked past that scene.


	3. Manny's Crescendo

****

Manny's Crescendo (Chapter Three)

Disclaimers- Same as in Chapter One.

A/N- Faithful readers, my apologies for being later with this than before but life happens. ..

Hmm, I guess going with you would beat shovelling! Ciao, dudes!" J.T sauntered off with Liberty.

"Wait! Come back here, stinker! " Toby groaned.

"Hey, maybe she'll tell me how to work my charm on Paige!" J.T. whispered as he left the pigpen.

"Toby, can't you get me out of here?" Emma wailed- as she pulled on the ankle chain tied to a tree while she was trying to milk a cow.

" I've got my own problems," Tobey groaned as he was struggling to dump the thousandth shovelful of pig muck out of the pigpen.

". We've gotta get out of here and rescue Manny- then get off this stupid island!" Emma groaned.

"Totally with you on that! I'm shovelling tons of muck- and I can't even _eat_ this animal," Toby snapped.

" Would you like to help me instead?" a pretty, athletic 12-year-old Asian girl wearing a t-shirt, gym shorts and boots asked.

"I'd go anywhere with you!" Toby beamed.

"I'm Kendra Wang. You're Toby Isaacs," Kendra introduced herself while shaking Toby's free hand.

"How did?" Toby asked.

"Word gets around fast on the Island. My brother Gavin mentioned you!" Kendra insisted.

"Brother?" Toby queried.

"Don't worry about that now! Right now I'd like you to help me check our weather station and tides. I'll show you where you can shower," Kendra exclaimed.

"Won't I get in trouble leaving?" Toby asked.

"Nah, Gavin's the Kahuna's right-hand man. He can take care of things!" Kendra insisted as Toby happily walked off with her.

"Wait? Can't you unchain me? What about Manny?" Emma wailed.

"Once I charm Kendra here, she'll get her brother to set things right! " Toby whispered to Emma.

"But we didn't see any sign of him at the Assembly. How do you know she's. .. ?" Emma asked in a whisper.

"No doubt he's a shy, quiet, intellectual type like her so Jimmy had no problems with him skipping the meeting. With me, Kendra and Gavin, I'll bet we can easily put the missing link Spinner in his place!"Toby whispered before walking back to Kendra.

"Come on, Toby! Sorry about the chains Emma but the Assembly ruled them necessary until the end of the ceremony and I can't go against them!" Kendra apologized.

"I **would** say it was nice to meet you but. . .! Ooh! Why does everyone have to be turds and get into that love crap around here?" Emma boiled as Kendra and Toby walked away.

"Are you sure you know what you're willing to risk?" Craig (in dark cotton slacks, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt and boots with a camera around his neck) asked Sean ( in a vest,tricornered hat, knee-length shorts and mocassins) as they approached the clearing with Sean carrying a large set of metal cutters.

"It's not cool what they're doing," Sean insisted.

"But the Assembly. ..?" Craig pleaded.

" You mean the 3-headed monster of Jimmy-Spinner-Paige that everyone else here just claps at like seals. .?" Sean scorned.

"Sean, you could. ..?" Craig gasped.

"I'm sick of having those three run our lives! Emma's a cool girl and I'd like to. ." Sean insisted -as they approached Emma.

"Who are you?" Emma asked.

"I'm Sean and this is my friend Craig and we've been on this island since. ." Sean started to say before Craig give him a warning look.

"A long time!" Craig finished.

"We're getting you out of here," Sean insisted as he cut the chains.

"Great! We can find Manny and leave!" Emma cheered as she was freed and hugged Sean.

"You two can but we-" Sean groaned.

"Have obligations," Craig finished.

"You know where they've taken Manny" Emma asked.

"Spinner's forces are too strong to for us to reach it now but tonight at the peak. We can get her then!"Sean insisted.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, she'll be safe until then and we can make a diversion," Sean insisted.

"Do you need my help?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, stay in the procession and do your part but get ready to help when the time comes," Sean insisted as the three fled into the trees.

"So you make your own soap?" Toby asked as he washed in the fast-running stream (with all his clothes on).

"Sure! Don't worry about getting them wet! The sun will dry your clothes soon and the soap can get rid of the stains and odors !"Kendra insisted as she stood by the shore waiting for him to finish.

"Wanna join me?" Toby eagerly asked.

"Not right now. Besides, you need to help me with the weather measurements," Kendra reminded him.

"Finished! So checking the weather helps the ceremony," Toby pondered as he walked out of the stream much cleaner than before.

"Yeah, we need to know about wind, fog and sudden downpours," Kendra reminded him as they walked the trail and checked the home-made weather instruments on the shore.

"So you don't believe in all this mumbo-jumbo,eh?" Toby asked.

"It's important to the others that the ceremony goes smooth," Kendra explained- as she wrote down the measurements in a rather battered, home made ledger.

"Thanks for filling me in on it. I feel a whole lot better!" Toby insisted.

"Is that the only reason?" Kendra asked batting her eyes and giggling.

"No! Imagine meeting an awesome girl who thinks science is cool like I do! I could stay here forever," Toby sighed as they started walking on the trail.

"Same here. Now that _you're_ here!" Kendra sighed as she gave Toby a kiss on the cheek as Toby walked slightly ahead of her and turned around to face her then started walking backwards.

" With you at my side, I've got nothing to fear. I can hardly wait to see the look on the goon's face when we and Gavin put him in his place," Toby laughed- as he continued walking backwards.

"Toby!" Kendra gasped.

"Yep! That Spinner'll grovel at our feet and be sorry he ever kicked me in the knees!"Toby laughed.

"But Toby!" Kendra pleaded as she tried to pull him towards her.

"Man! Someone needs to clear this trail better, I almost fell down tripping on that tree root," Toby whined.

"That was my foot, Loser!" Spinner growled as Toby gulped very loudly.

" Kendra! Run! GAVIN! Over here!" Toby yelled.

"Toby, he's. ." Kendra tried to explain.

"Why aren't you running? GAVIN! Help us!" Toby yelled.

"Nobody calls that lame-o name, except my sister,"Spinner grunted.

"(^&^(&(8" Kendra snapped at Spinner.

"^*&^(" Spinner replied.

"You two were speaking Chinese, right?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" Spinner sneered.

"So you're _Gavin_ and you're her brother. But Kendra, he's . .. "Toby gulped.

"Adopted! Our parents couldn't have any children for many years so they adopted him but then conceived me afterwards,"Kendra explained.

"And Kendra and. .. Gavin are the English versions of our names!" Spinner added.

"Why would anyone want to adopt him?" Toby gasped while Spinner made a fist and held it to Toby's face.

"Don't be dissing my folks! " Spinner snarled.

"I . .er wasn't. Look, I'll go back to the pigpen and. ." Toby gulped- as he ran off.

"Come back here, you coward!" Kendra snarled.

"(*^*(&^" Spinner snapped at her (in Chinese)

")&*)*&)- and I can take care of myself!" Kendra replied( switching to English at the end) as she stormed off in the opposite direction.

"How much farther?" J.T. asked Liberty as they hiked the steep jungle trail.

"We're almost there. Here it is! Welcome to my lab!" Liberty insisted as they entered a lava tube cave and Liberty flipped something.

"That sounds like a . .. light switch," J.T. gulped as suddenly electric lights lit up the cave complete with dozens of homemade gizmos with several rows of log benches centered around a television set and a computer console.

"You like?" Liberty asked.

"WOW! Where did you get all this stuff and. .where's the juice running all this coming from?" J.T. asked in awe.

"Kendra and I have been able to salvage quite a bit from wrecked cargo ships and with everyone else's help we built a windmill with electric turbines at the waterfall upstream!" Liberty explained.

"Great! Now I can radio. .." J. T. said in awe.

"We don't have a transmitter!" Liberty explained.

"A phone?" J.T. asked.

"Nah, don't have that either- and your cell's out of range!" Liberty chirped.

"Can we get online ?" J.T. asked.

"Sure but there's no e-mail, message board or chatroom access," Liberty explained.

"But don't you have ANY way to communicate with the outside world?"J.T. asked.

"Now why would we want to do that? We have everything we need here- especially now that you've arrived," Liberty beamed.

"But it must have taken ages to build all this stuff," J.T. gasped.

"Not that long! How do I look?" Liberty coyly laughed.

"What do you need me for?" J.T asked.

"The way you were tying that bale cord to the fence post, I knew your fingers were strong and nimble yet small enough to get inside all these instruments to help me repair these devices!" Liberty explained.

"Can we see what's on TV?" J.T. asked.

"We'll do better with the online feed. Bermuda looks snowy on the TV!" Liberty insisted.

"And so the search has been called off for the 4 teens from Canada missing since that storm," the news announcer explained- as J.T. and Liberty were watching the news on the computer terminal.

"That's us!" J.T. gulped.

" Here's their pictures again," the announcer repeated as four pictures came onto the screen.

"HAHHAHHAHHAH!" Liberty burst out laughing.

"I was eight years old when they took that picture of me in the bunny suit! I thought I'd shredded every copy of that and destroyed the negative but I guess Mom kept on!" J.T. groaned.

"We now go to the Hamilton Marina to interview Cappy Jack Morgan, the last person known to have seen them," the newscaster proclaimed.

"Aye! What a sad day for their families! Though that Yorke boy was dumber than a box of rocks! Still, it pains me to think of them a'grieven' fer him so I'm only gonna charge his dad half the cost of replacing my boat!" Cappy Jack insisted.

"Aw, Man! If he ever sees me again, Dad's gonna kill me!"J.T. groaned.

"So you want to stay with us?" Liberty asked.

" Between Paige being here, this cave and Dad's temper, I'd be stupid not to!" J.T. sighed.

The sun set on the island and with Jimmy leading the way carrying a tiki torch, followed by Spinner banging a conga drum he had strapped to his torso, the entire Degrassi population (minus Sean and Emma) set out to climb to the top of the volcano in a procession up the very steep slopes of the mountain. 

"That's the last of the trees. How much further before we reach the peak?" Emma asked while the drumbeat was heard to increase its tempo.

"We're almost there! We've climbed five thousand feet after walking five miles" Sean insisted.

"This sure is a well-worn trail with lots of steps and railings. Was there a settlement before you all got stranded here?" Emma asked.

"Long story. Sh! The ceremony's about to begin," Sean insisted.

"Oh, Festy! We come once again with offerings for you to thank you for building us this rad island but to not to erupt again! " Paige was heard to exclaim as she, Ashley, Terri and Manny (all dressed in hula skirts and tasteful Hawaiian print tops with leis and flowers in their hair) were stepping onto the wooden platform (with a 'Watch Your Step' sign at the edge) along with Spinner (with the conga drum ) and Craig (with a guitar strapped to his torso). 

The platform was perched over the volcano crater ( about 300 feet across)

Emma saw the sight and shuddered.

"Wait! Don't do it, Manny!" Emma pleaded.

"Emma! Butt out!" Manny boiled.

"But. .." Emma gulped.

"It's OK! Liberty explained everything," J.T. insisted and Toby looked at Emma and nodded while trying to catch Kendra's eye which rolled.

"As I was saying- without any further ado! We're here to make offerings and sacrifices to you O Festy. Hit it, Spinner!" Paige shouted while Spinner drummed frantically.

Paige had her mouth open and Craig tried to strum a few cords on his guitar but Spinner got so caught up in the conga drumbeats he danced and started to spin around like a dervish.

"ARUUUUUUU!!"Spinner howled while dancing and spinning.

"Spinner! It's my. . .I mean _our_ moment!" Paige growled while gesturing towards Ashley, Terri and Manny.

"Places everyone!" Jimmy insisted.

"And now we offer a classic tune which now can be perfectly sung!"Paige proclaimed.

Spinner restarted the beat a much slower tempo, then Craig strummed his cords.

"That sounds very familiar! Could it possibly be. .?" Emma asked Sean.

"Yep!" Sean insisted.

First Paige sang the first verse of Madonna's 'Ray of Light' (with Craig playing the guitar, Spinner the drum and the Squad shaking their maracas at the right spot) then they all sang the chorus, then Ashley sang the 2nd one,everyone the chorus then Terri the 3rd . .then finally Manny sang the last part. ..and hit the highest crescendo note perfectly to the cheers and hoots of all assembled at the 5340 ft. altitude crater rim.

As everyone started walking down, Emma approached Manny.

"I thought you were going to be sacrificed," Emma said with relief as she hugged Manny.

"Same here but Paige explained that I had to remember that fear to hit that high note. Oh, it was awesome! I never want to leave," Manny beamed.

"Manny!" Emma boiled.

"Leave her alone! She did her part perfectly," Paige insisted.

"And what about all this 'Sacrifice Squad' business? What sacrifice?" Emma boiled.

"What do you call having to climb 5000 feet in a grass skirt, worrying about bats getting into hair, and getting bitten by a zillion mosquitos? Believe me, hun, we _sacrificed_ for Festy tonight!" Paige quipped.

"And you, Sean! You let me spend all these hours thinking Manny was going to be cast into a crater and tried to use me for your coup! You lied to me!" Emma snapped.

"Hey, could we calm down? Theres a party at the village gazebo waiting for everyone and I want us to party til sunrise?" Craig pleaded while taking Manny's hand.

"That was just awesome, Kendra!" Toby interjected while Kendra turned away from him.

"The silent treatment? Are you mad at me for not wanting to get pulverized by your brother or is it for what I said about your brother?"Toby asked.

"It's hard for me to separate the two- and your idea of trying to use me and 'Gavin' for some stupid coup idea of yours!" Kendra boiled.

"You seem happy!" Liberty exclaimed.

"I can't remember the last time I was this happy. On this island with the ceremony and Paige," J.T. exclaimed.

"Will you stop crushing on her? The only reason we let her do this Sacrifice Squad thing is that she's about as useful as Mrs. Howell!"Liberty groaned.

"You're just jealous of the love she and I are going to have!" J.T beamed.

"What love? She can't stand you!"Liberty insisted.

"That'll change tonight!" J.T exclaimed- as he banged on the large pocket of his cargo shorts where he had just the thing he believed would change Paige's mind about him.

"Let's hope this party doesn't crash and burn this time," Liberty sighed as they and the others made their way down the slopes back towards the village plaza.


	4. Dividing Line

****

"The Dividing Line" (Chapter Four)

by Ennon.

Disclaimer: I still don't own this and claiming no cash whatsoever from all this.

While climbing down the steep trail of the volcano, Manny couldn't stop squealing.

" Did you see how the moonlight just shined through the crater's clouds right at the moment I hit that note? And how everyone else couldn't stop cheering? This is the most intense moment of my life!"Manny gushed as she gripped Craig's hand.

"Manny, get a clue!" Emma boiled as they kept walking.

"A clue for what? Isn't this the most wonderful spot in the world? It's just so unreal!" Manny beamed.

"That's exactly what I mean!" Emma fumed as she squeezed past Manny on the trail then bolted ahead.

"Manny, J.T, Toby! We're getting out of here first thing in the morning!" Emma snapped.

"We're sick of you bossing us around, Miss Dicator," Manny seethed.

"Yeah!"J.T. and Toby agreed.

"What?! You're not seriously thinking of staying here?" Emma boiled.

"I like being where my talents are appreciated," Manny beamed while giving Craig's hand another squeeze.

"What?! You're going to become a . ._volcano vamp_?"Emma asked incredously.

"Hey, we're Sacrifice Squad Ladies!"Paige boiled.

"You're just jealous," Manny insisted.

"I didn't spend two weeks quizzing you for your Catechism when we were seven to have you throw it all away for this!" Emma fumed.

"It's always been all about you!" Manny exploded.

"You tell her, hun!" Paige cheered.

"Yeah!" Hazel cheered.

" You're one to talk, Miss Paige Puppet!" Emma snapped.

"Did you hear what that snip called me?" Hazel sneered.

" What's with everyone?" Emma snorted as she stormed ahead of everyone else

"Emma! Wait!" Sean pleaded.

"For what? "Emma asked.

"I've got to talk to you! I'm sorry about not leveling with you about the ceremony- and everything," Sean insisted as he caught up to her.

"Go away, Sean! Leave me alone!" Emma insisted.

"Wait! You'd be great to have around here. You're _needed_!" Sean pleaded.

" The only thing this place needs is some teachers and parents. God, I can't believe I just said that," Emma shuddered.

"It's true. Though they can't live here," Sean sighed.

"Did all of you survive some schoolwide sightseeing tour? Why is everyone here adamant about never leaving this place or even contacting outsiders? Is this some kind of cult?" Emma asked as she grasped Sean's extended hand.

"No, it's none of those things and I'd really like you to stay but you'd better decide fast or else there won't be a life for you to return to," Sean gulped as he hugged her then abruptly broke his embrace before ran off into the trackless forest- leaving Emma even more confused than before.

Meantime the other Degrassi Islanders quickly set up the party in the Village Plaza and dancing to the tinny radio's cutting edge dance station while drinking freshly squeezed orange juice from a punchbowl poured into carved wooden cups and eating kettle fried potato chips in banana leaf bags.

J.T. took the plastic vodka bottle that he'd had stolen from the airline beverage cart on the flight to Bermuda and had secreted the entire trip out of his cargo shorts' pocket and decided to make his move. He poured the bottle's contents into two cups then quickly filled the remainder with orange juice but before he could fulfill his scheme, fate happened.

"Ash, you and the Squad really were great tonight," Jimmy enthused while gripping his sullen companion's hand as they were approaching the Plaza after everyone else.

"I guess. What does it matter?" Ashley groaned.

"Ash, you've hardly smiled once in ages," Jimmy groaned.

"Can't our subjects stand it if I skip this one party?" Ashley asked.

"Just go in, say hello then complain of a headache, excuse yourself then you can turn in. I'll do the hobnobbing by myself," Jimmy insisted.

"Alright but then it's my boudoir for me after that!" Ashley insisted.

"You're the queen of this Island. What more can you ask for?" Jimmy asked.

"Freedom," Ashley groaned under her breath too faint for Jimmy to hear and almost too faint for her to believe in.

"Oh. . uh, Paige?" J.T. asked as he approached her with a cup in his hand.

"What is it, little man?" Paige sneered.

"You want something to soothe your tonsils?" J.T asked.

"Hey! I'm the only one who serves her drinks!" Spinner snarled.

"It's just a little handful and. .." J.T. started to explain but Spinner stopped him from saying anything more when he grabbed the wooden cup out of J.T's hand, threw the orange vodka out of it- then shoved the carved wooden cup over J.T.'s right hand so tightly that J.T. couldn't budge it.

"Uh, could someone pull this off my hand?" J.T. gulped.

"After the party," Spinner growled while J.T. tried to pry it off from between his knees while everyone but Liberty laughed at him.

"Presenting Their Majesties Kahuna Jimmy and Queen Ashley, dudes!" Spinner proclaimed a few minutes later.

Emma came to the Plaza a few minutes later hoping everyone would be too preoccupied with the party to say anything to her.

"Thanks for coming everyone! Ashley would like to give a small speech detailing everyone's duties and. .." Jimmy pronounced.

"Jimmy, I said I'd say hello then leave!" Ashley gasped in astonishment.

"But our subjects expect us to enjoy the bounty with them. ."Jimmy insisted.

"Fine!"Ashley snapped- then grabbed a cup of orange juice she happened to see on the serving table and drank it all at once.

J.T. shuddered- for he alone knew that this was the other cup with the orange juice/vodka combo that he'd made intending to get drunk on while getting Paige drunk on the other.

"I had a great time at the party but now I'm leaving. Goodnight, subjects!" Ashley sneered and stomped out of the room.

"Oh, it's so good that our queen's so dedicated to her duties," Paige snidely and sarcastically beamed.

"Ash! Wait! Fine! Go off and sulk somewhere. I'm staying here with my subjects!" Jimmy fumed.

"Let me talk to her," Terri insisted.

"A lot of good that will do her," Jimmy sneered but didn't try to stop Terri from leaving.

"Ashley, wait!" Terri pleaded as she saw erratically weave Ashley through the village to the edge of darkness just past the lit tiki torches bordering the village fields.

"That's what we've _always_ done. I'm so sick of waiting," Ashley sobbed- starting to feel the effects of the vodka.

"Terri, go away! I just want to be left alone,"Ashley sobbed.

Terri slowly walked back to the Plaza party- hoping Ashley would change her mind.

"Have you seen Emma?" Sean begged as he stumbled in the darkness towards the fence.

"You really like her, don't you?" Ashley beamed a bit more loudly than usual.

"Yeah, but she hates me! Why couldn't I have told her the whole truth?" Sean groaned.

"You know what a catastrophe it would cause if outsiders knew," Ashley insisted-slurring her words.

"Part of me wants her to stay here but the other part wants her to live a real life- away from here. God, why can't any of us do that?" Sean sobbed.

"Don't cry! I don't see how she can resist you," Ashley slurred as she started hugging him.

"If only we weren't who we are," Sean groaned as he hugged her while she kissed him.

"Terri, hun, why did you leave Ashley alone like that?" Paige asked.

"Maybe she just needs time to herself to collect her thoughts and. .."Terri explained.

"SEAN!" Emma called out as she peaked out into the compound and saw him with Ashley.

"Emma! I didn't mean to. .." Sean gulped.

Suddenly, the entire village ran outside to the fence to see what was happening- with J.T. lagging behind the others trying in vain to tug the solid wood cup off his right hand.

Jimmy immediately pulled Sean off of Ashley and started to slug him. Sean slugged him back.

"Please! Don't hurt each other!" Emma pleaded.

"Shut up, Emma! I've been waiting for this for a long time! I've got nothing to lose!" Sean snarled as he and Jimmy duked it out.

"That's enough! You'll both have to beat me up to get to the other!" Craig insisted as he came between the two brawlers.

"Alright, Craig! You're with me on this coup," Sean cheered.

"No! But I'm not having Manny magic she brought tonight spoiled by bloodshed," Craig shouted.

"&(*))*" Kendra shouted to Spinner.

"(&&( ? You're right, sis! &*&. We can't do it, Jimmy," Spinner replied.

"Spin, you know the penalty for treason's. .." Jimmy insisted.

"Not this night, Jimmy! It's an ancient Chinese belief that when the moonlight dances on the clouds then shines through to the valley floor like it did when we at the crater that any bloodshed could visit us tenfold- and you know you can't pull it off without me," Spinner said in a voice of stone.

"So, this is what your moodiness was all about tonight! You couldn't let the rest of us have one fun time without spoiling it," Jimmy boiled.

"But it was the drink. .." Ashley cried.

"You couldn't have hugged and kissed him if you didn't want to," Jimmy seethed.

"For shame carrying on like some desperate hag,"Paige sneered.

"You're the hag, Paige! Sometimes, when the light's just right I swear you like you're. .."Ashley cruelly laughed.

"Spinner, can't you get those 10 thousand dead Chinese ancestors off your back and like off these two?" Paige boiled.

"Alright then, you two are exiled to the other side of the Island,"Jimmy insisted.

"Where the hermit lives?"Ashley gulped.

"And where the trash gets dumped!" Paige taunted.

"Wait, I swear it's just the drink that did this," Ashley pleaded.

"Who fouled the Island with it?"Jimmy demanded.

J.T. started to go back inside.

"Oh, Cupper Hand! Get over here!" Spinner snarled as he ran after then dragged J.T. to where Ashley and Sean were- by the cup covering J.T.'s hand.

"What makes you think. ..?" J.T. gulped.

"Well, you ain't packin a pistol and I'm NOT glad to see ya, little man!" Paige sneered as she pointed at the bulge in J.T's cargo shorts pocket where Spinner extracted the empty vodka airline cart bottle.

"Please, can't we work this out without having to exile them? I've always felt sorry for the hermit. He's so alone and it wouldn't be fair. ." Terri pleaded.

"They've threatened the village's safety," Jimmy insisted.

"Terri, it's like this. You pleaded with me for ages to let you join the Sacrifice Squad- and I've let you do so these past 75. ..days. Now do you want to give up all the privileges and rank like Trashy Ash here or," Paige sneered.

"I'm sorry, Ashley but. .." Terri burst into tears and tried to hug Ashley but Ashley brushed her off.

"Don't worry, Ashley! You've always been willing to be friends with me even when everyone else has turned up their noses. I'll go with you, Sean, the hermit and. .. what's your name again?" Ellie asked.

"J.T." J.T. groaned while still struggling with the solid wood cup on his right hand.

"Craig, you coming with us?" Sean asked.

"We've looked out for each other forever but. .I want to stay with Manny," Craig insisted.

"Smart move, pal!" Spinner insisted as he banged Craig's back.

"Emma?" Sean asked.

" After what I saw you and Ashley do with my own eyes?" Emma cried.

"Yo, Tobes. We've been brothers since camp and. ." J.T. pleaded.

" I'm sorry but I'm not leaving until I can work things out with Kendra," Toby insisted.

"You mean that?" Kendra beamed.

"You do?" Spinner snarled.

"Yeah! I'm through running!" Toby insisted as he looked Spinner in the eye.

"Emma, why aren't you protesting this like everything else?" J.T. asked as he, Sean, Ashley and Ellie were being tied up by Spinner.

" Because this whole thing's your fault! The boat 'joy ride', the shipwreck. Now that vodka bottle's ruined everything! " Emma boiled.

"Okay! Okay!" J.T. groaned.

Spinner untied Ellie from the group and pointed her towards her hut where she quickly packed a few Goth outfits into a bag(all she could carry in one trip), then he tied her back with the others, then the process was repeated with Sean and Ashley. Before tying them back together then leading them to the other side of the island-occasionally prodding them on the point of his long spear.

"I've escorted you to the other side of the island so that means you'll have to fend for yourselves there! Watch out for the hermit," Spinner taunted.

"Any more info about the hermit?" J.T. gulped.

" His name's Marco. That's all you need to know," Spinner sneered-as he finally pulled the wooden cup off of J.T's sore right hand before turning around.


	5. Shocks and Revelations

****

'Shocks and Revelations' (Chapter Five)

by Ennon

Disclaimers: Same as always.

"Emma, stop tossing and turning! Your vibrations are rocking my hammock!" Manny whispered with gritted teeth as she turned upside down and faced Emma in the hammock below.

"Can you believe that Sean? One minute saying he needs me then making out with that Ashley in front of the whole Island the next!" Emma hissed in a whisper.

"Emma, didn't you see them get exiled- along with J.T. and Ellie the Goth?"Manny whispered.

"Served Sean right! " Emma whispered/hissed.

"But what about J.T. and Ellie? Ellie wasn't even accused yet she chose to go along with Ashley. What a cool friend!" Manny beamed in a whisper.

"Fine! Take their side," Emma whispered.

"I'm not but what if it rains before they've built a shelter. Don't you care if Sean or J.T catch cold?" Manny asked.

"Let him get pneumonia!" Emma boiled.

"Shh! Would you two keep it down? ! I've got to take tidal and barometric readings before sunrise!" Kendra hissed from the cot across the room in the same hut.

"Sorry, Kendra! Thanks for letting us sleep in your hut," Manny whispered.

"Don't thank me! Thank the Assembly for assigning this. I know I am!" Kendra groaned.

"Goodnight, Manny, Kendra!" Emma whispered.

"Goodnight, you two- for the last time!" Kendra groaned- as she covered her head with her pillow.

A minute later, a large clap of thunder was heard- followed by pounding rain immediately therafter.

"Um, you think Sean will take cover before he gets soaked?" Emma whispered to Manny who responded by deliberately faking a loud snore to prompt Emma to quit talking.

"Emma, go to sleep!" Kendra fumed.

"Okay! Thanks for having us here. I imagine it could be worse," Emma insisted.

"Yeah, just ask Toby," Manny gulped.

"Goodnight!" all three shouted- though with differing emphases.

Toby was on the wooden floor of a hut looking at the homemade warriors' masks on the wall where the resident was making a loud series of whistling and popping sounds with his snoring before it abruptly stopped with Toby getting a kick in the head.

"Hey, Isaacs! I don't hear you sleeping! You'd better not be lying awake thinking of sneaking over and bothering any of the girls here- especially Paige or Kendra!" Spinner growled 

"Why am I on the floor again?" Toby gulped.

"'Cause it's _my_ hut and I get the futon!" Spinner boiled.

"But there's plenty of room on the straw mat,"Toby started to say about the object next to the right side of the futon before getting kicked in the head again.

"Paige herself wove for that me so only my feet get to touch it- NOT your sorry butt! I don't like you being here either but you're a security risk so you need to be where I can keep track of you! Start sleeping if you want to live to be awake tomorrow!" Spinner ordered before going back to sleep snoring a storm in no time flat.

Toby gulped and tried his best to at least sound like he was sleeping- while on the floor at the base of Spinner's futon.

"Are you sure there's something here to keep us dry?" J.T. groaned while he, Ashley, Ellie and Sean were poking about the Degrassi Island Dump on the opposite side of the island.

" We threw out that tarp last summer on account of the holes and bird poop but we're getting desperate!" Ellie insisted as they were getting soaked in the pitch darkness before dawn.

"But why can't we just take shelter under a tree?" J.T. asked.

"With all this lightning clapping around us, any one of these trees could get struck- and their roots could act light conductors turning us into cinders!" Sean explained.

"Oh, yeah. I seem to remember this in science class. I wish I'd paid more attention to that than the teacher's. .er smile," J.T. groaned.

"ROWWL!!" cried out someone waving a large rusted sword.

With each flash of lightning, they could see the person before them who looked quite a sight with matted waist-length black hair and a chest-length matted beard, rags and scraps covering him from neck to ankles and even his feet had odd hybrids of leather and rags randomly tied together. 

"The hermit!" J.T. and Ashley screamed as they ran out of the Dump.

"ROWWL! Mine! Mine! Mine!" the hermit snarled as he ran towards them- and grabbed the soiled tarp.

"Hold on! There's four of us and only one of him!" Sean insisted as he grabbed the other end and pulled.

Ashley and J.T came back towards the others.

"We need this!" Sean yelled.

"Wait! We mean no harm. We're outcasts like you," Ellie pleaded.

"I'm no outcast! I just don't need people!" the hermit growled.

"Marco, we can help each other," Ellie insisted.

"M. .m. .Marco. No one's called me that since. .. .I can hardly remember," Marco gulped.

"It's your name," J.T. recalled.

" In spite of the sword, I know you wouldn't actually hurt anyone. I can see it in your eyes!" Ashley pondered.

"My eyes?" Marco gulped.

"Windows to the soul," Ellie insisted.

" Ladies, what are you thinking?" Sean asked in a whisper.

" As long as we have to be on this side of the Island, we might as well do our best to help each other- including Marco," Ellie insisted.

"What kind of help can you give me?" Marco snarled.

"Humanity," Ellie quietly whispered as the storm started to clear.

" I never thought I'd like collecting eggs, milking a cow and helping you fix breakfast for that bunch but I have to admit that doing this farm work's fun!" Emma enthused to Terri that afternoon as they were brushing the cows' coats in the barn.

"You also seem to have a green thumb! The crops could use your extra hands. I think you may very well fit in here!" Terri insisted as she swept the stall.

"I've been a city girl my whole life but I've been into environmental causes!So what's for dinner tonight?" Emma asked.

"Funny you should ask. We're having grilled sea bass, fresh baked blue corn tortilla flatbread, and onion soup with oranges and apples for dessert. We'll need to start firing the bread oven soon so it will be ready by tonight Oh, and I'll need you to pick lots of wild onions for the soup!" Terri insisted.

"Where are they?" Emma asked.

"All around us! They're weeds on this Island," Terri explained as they left the barn and Terri pulled a wild onion from the ground and put in the large wicker basket then handed it to Emma who put more 

"You guys seem to have adapted quite a bit of the Island's stuff for your uses quite well. Let me ask you this. Today or tomorrow's my usual time so what can I use for tampons?" Emma asked- slightly embarassed but knowing that Terri was being helpful and kind.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that!" Terri enthused.

" I don't? But I can practically set my watch to. ." Emma started to say.

"You've drank our water and eaten our food so there's no need to worry about that anymore. None of us girls do!" Terri chirped.

"Huh?" Emma asked as she dropped the basket.

"In time you'll come to understand but right now just enjoy not having that bother any more!" Terri beamed as Emma picked up the basket in puzzlement but continued picking the wild onions.

"Are you sure she said that?" Manny asked later while Emma was still picking onions.

"Yep! How did your day go in Hazel's boutique?" Emma asked.

"Fairly well! Wait'll you see the overalls I'm making for the three of us to change into!" Manny beamed.

"It'll be good to have more than what we have on," Emma sighed.

"But what a boom this would be! Imagine what would happen if word got out. You'd have virtually every woman in the world coming here to drink the water and eat the food!" Manny squealed.

" That may explain why there's no babies here but have you noticed that there's no adults either?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I know. It's like a dream come true," Manny sighed- as she munched on the raw onions from Emma's basket.

"Don't eat all those onions now! Terri has to cook them for tonight's soup!" Emma snapped as she slapped Manny's hand.

"I know but .. ..where are you going?" Manny asked as Emma started to run off.

" I have to find more onions," Emma shouted.

"You're not going to the other side of the Island are you? You know that they're supposed to fend for themselves and J.T. nearly ruined everything for us as it was!" Manny pleaded.

"Who's to say! Besides, maybe I might be looking for more onions but just lose track of where I'm going. .and if a few of them happen to fall out of the basket while I'm . .somewhere," Emma rationalized as she ran off.

"Emma! What are you doing here?" Sean asked as she came upon him using vines to tie several uneven logs together at a small clearing.

" I just was picking onions and happened to get over here. Nice lean to you're making. Where'd you get the tarp? It's nasty!" Emma sniffed.

"The Dump! Marco let us have it," Sean explained.

"Marco?" Emma asked.

"The hermit. He's not as bad as his rep so the girls are off giving him a makeover while J. T's in search of," Sean explained.

"FOOD!"J.T. yelled as he proceeded to chow down on Emma's onions.

"J.T. save some for the others! There's a whole cluster of them on the other side of this clearing you can eat," Emma explained.

"Marco's teaching the girls what weeds and roots are edible and what to avoid on this side. It's much steeper and more barren than the Village's side! Luckily, I caught some shrimp earlier," Sean explained.

"They were awesome,too!" J.T. beamed.

"You're going to have to learn how to take care of yourself instead of mooching off of everyone else," Sean warned.

"He may never learn that!" Emma laughed.

"Hey!" J.T. snapped.

"So, you're not mad at me anymore?" Sean asked.

"Of course I am but I don't want anything bad to happen. .and I was wondering how all of you are," Emma explained.

"Good of you to drop by but J.T. and I have to get this ready so we don't chance a second night of getting soaked,"Sean insisted as he grabbed one of the small logs and started to put it in the hole in the ground.

"So relieved you didn't catch cold," Emma sighed.

"Same here!" J.T. insisted.

"Oh, we never get colds or anything else on the Island," Sean shrugged.

"Um, Terri said that the girls don't ever have periods because of the water. Does that have something to do with no colds or is it that you aren't exposed to them," Emma gulped.

"It's hard to explain. I think the girls could use your help with Marco. J.T. and I need to finish this,"Sean insisted.

"Get your back into J.T.! Helping Sean could do you a world of good!" Emma and Sean laughed to J.T's consternation.

"We use this soap for everything from toothpaste and shampoo to laundry. I'm sure you're clean now!" Ellie insisted as Marco emerged from the pond wrapping one of her spare skirts around his midsection.

"I haven't felt this clean since Sal. .." Marco gulped.

"Emma! What are you doing here? You know I'm really sorry for what happened with," Ashley stuttered.

" Ashley, I don't know you and I'm not here to rehash that. I'm just curious as to see what's going on with the hermit. I'm Emma Nelson!" Emma insisted as she shook Marco's now clean hand.

"No one's shaken my hand since. …" Marco gulped.

"Now, just let the Island Delilah go to town with your locks and I'll have you looking shagadelic in no time!" Ellie insisted as she took a pair of scissors out of her purse.

"Ellie's our hairdresser!" Ashley explained.

"My mom's one,too!" Emma enthused.

"Really? I learned this from my big sister! Good skill to have. Far better than her bootlegging!" Ellie insisted as she held up the scissors and grabbed a waist length snatch of hair in her hands.

"Make mine a Renaissance cut! I feel as though I'm being reborn as a human being today!" Marco said with a happy shudder

"You'll floor 'em, babe!" Ellie insisted.

"If only Sal could see me. I've been hiding my humanity for so long trying to forget what happened and who I am," Marco with hesitation.

"I know what you're saying. Even though I'm not proud of why I'm here. I'd rather be here and be myself than staying a queen in a gilded cage like before," Ashley groaned.

"Who's Sal?" Emma asked.

"Mi amore! We were two Genoan kids who went sailing on my cousin Chris's boat through the Pillars of Hercules to a whole New World but we saw the other crewmen do unspeakable things so when our boat broke up, we took an outboat and fled." Marco explained in bursts.

"What happened?" Ellie asked as she proceeded to shave his hair and beard.

"We almost died before reaching this Island by Providence then the water, plants and animals renewed us. .and we were blissfully happy! So happy here that we threw down our guard and did what we had resisted for so long," Marco beamed. .then started crying.

"Then what?" Emma asked.

"Emma, can't you see he's upset?" Ellie asked as she clutched his hand.

"It's okay! I haven't told anyone else in so long," Marco gulped.

"Sal loved me but wanted to see the outside world again. I loved Sal too much to deny that wish. So Sal left and I was all alone for so long. I thought Sal had perished but one day Sal returned and even though Sal had changed a great deal, we were so happy. But Sal had been away too long so instead of the water restoring. It killed. Right in my arms, Sal died!" Marco burst into tears at the last part.

"And you've been alone. .. ever since?" Emma asked.

"I gave the Island Sal's surname. This Island's been a memorial ever since and I have no place in the Village or the Outside World so here I must stay," Marco gulped.

"That's not true! I'm sure I can talk the others into welcoming you into the Village," Ellie insisted.

"What makes you think they'll listen to you?" Marco asked.

"They have to! I'm the only one who can style their hair or do piercings!" Ellie enthused as she hugged Marco.

"It was good to meet you! I'll see what I can do," Emma insisted as she shook Marco's hand.

"Not just yet. You're still new here and we have to get Marco up to date on civilization. You better be getting back before Spinner and the others notice you gone! Thanks for the onions, though!" Ashley insisted as Emma ran off.

Emma hadn't remembered the way back so she took a different trail. This one led to a cemetary. Emma saw names and dates of hundreds of deceased dating back a large number of years. She noticed that it had a very diverse range of names from all over the world (Aden, Wang, Mikelchuk,etc.) but while there was a number of children under twelve and adults, she didn't see any for teens. She became more curious as several catched her eye:

__

Capt. Willem Van Zandt

(1618-1660)

'Papan du Liberté'

_Elspeth Cromartie MacGregor_

(1645-1681)

Beloved Widow of Terence and Mother of Teresa

Emma wasn't sure what to make of these but then she saw one that truly floored her.

_Salvatore DeGrassi_

(1478-1635)

Amore di Marco del Rossi

"Oh!My!God!"Emma gulped with a shudder when she realized that there was much more to this Island than she had ever imagined.


	6. Truths and Dares

****

'Truths and Dares' (Chapter Six)

by Ennon

A/N- Same disclaimers as always I want to thank everyone for their reviews so far- especially Stacy's Mom (Karen). Feel free to keep reviewing (and ask/comment anything you want about this story)!

Paige and Hazel were walking through the apple grove.

" Your scarlet linen low-riders won't be finished until next week even with Manny helping me," Hazel insisted.

"Oh, that's not important," Paige shrugged.

"The flax crop didn't do all that great last. ... Paige, you usually pitch a fit if there's any wardrobe delay! You okay?" Hazel asked- as she felt Paige's forehead.

"Oh, I'm more than okay! I'm hot! See Jimmy over there brooding about Ash the Trash?" Paige asked while pointing to Jimmy absently kicking rocks nearby.

"Paige, you're not thinking of becoming the new queen! Spinner's been at your beck and call for. ." Hazel gasped.

"Don't be ridiculous! No way would I trade in Spinner. And I don't _have_ to! With Ash out of the picture, Spinner being the Viceroy and me being Spinner's lady AND Sacrifice Squad Leader, **I'm** the highest ranking Degrassi woman! Nothing could spoil my day!" Paige gloated.

  
"Emma?" Craig gulped as Emma started to turn around from Salvatore DeGrassi's tombstone in the middle of the Degrassi Cemetary.

"Craig, are you one of. .them?"Emma asked with a shudder.

"You. .. know," Craig groaned- as Emma started to run out.

"Wait! Don't run off!" Craig shouted as he started to give chase then abruptly changed his direction.

"Craig, what are you doing here?" Sean asked as he and J.T. were putting up the lean-to with the filthy,perforated canopy from the dump.

"It's Emma- and she _knows_!" Craig shuddered.

"Of course she knows we've been exiled. She was there when it happened," J.T. shrugged.

"J.T. on the left hand trail there's some more vines about five hundred feet up the path. Fetch 'em!" Sean insisted.

"You're not my boss!" J.T. exploded.

" Don't argue with me!" Sean boiled.

"Everyone thinks they can run my life. Well, I've had it!" J.T shouted.

" Fine, do what you want- just get out of here!" Sean shouted as he threw pebbles deliberately short of J.T.'s feet.

"Hey! You'll be sorry! You'll all be sorry you picked on me!" J.T shouted back as he ran off.

"Shouldn't we see if J.T.. .?" Craig asked.

"That's nothing. We're chin-deep if everything hits the fan," Sean gulped.

"Sean, we've got to get to her before the others. You're the only one she'll listen to," Craig pleaded.

"Yeah, it could be the end of her if we don't reach her first," Sean gulped.

"And the end of Degrassi and the world itself if she returns to it now!" Craig insisted as they ran off.

J.T decided the only one who could help him was Liberty. All he'd have to do is pour on the charm, maybe offer to polish her boots once he found her in the cave lab. 

"Which trail leads back to the Main Side of the Island?" J.T. gulped.

"Man, these readings don't look good," Toby groaned to Kendra as they were writing in the charts.

" I know but we need to get with Liberty about this before we share them with anyone else," Kendra groaned.

"Whatever happens, I want you to know that these two days with you have been some of the best I've ever had," Toby beamed.

" I was going to say the same thing!" Kendra chirped as she gave Toby a kiss on the mouth.

"So, Haze, didn't I say that things would work out? Manny's been about the best thing to happen in quite some time!" Paige gloated.

"She's been a good assistant," Hazel acknowledged.

"Terri. You think we have enough cacao beans to make hot chocolate tonight? I feel like celebrating," Paige beamed while putting her hand on Terri's shoulder.

"We have enough left from the pod harvest. No doubt Emma will love to learn how to make it from beans, honey and milk!"Terri enthused as she was carrying the basket full of onions.

" Say, where is that adorable one?" Paige sarcastically asked- as she took her hand off Terri's shoulder.

" I sent her to pick more wild onions for the soup about an hour ago but," Terri related.

"You let her go off by herself?!" Paige exploded.

"You know how Spinner loves all those extra onions in the soup," Terri tried to explain.

"Who cares! Am I the only smart one here? We've got to find her ASAP!" Paige insisted.

"There she is behind that rock," Craig whispered to Sean as they came upon Emma literally shaking from confusion.

"What'll I say to her?" Sean gulped.

"You'll think of something," Craig insisted.

"Em," Sean pleaded as Emma recoiled while making a cross with her right and left index fingers in front of her face.

"Stay away from me! You. . you! Vampires!" Emma gulped.

"We're no vampires! Do you see us avoiding daylight? And Spinner especially LOVES garlic!"Sean nervously chuckled.

"What about all those tombs? Adults! Children even!" Emma shuddered.

"Yes, those are some of the others' parents and siblings," Craig groaned.

"You killed them?" Emma gulped.

"No, they all died drinking the water," Sean groaned.

"What? How old are you?" Emma cringed.

"We're all the same teens we were when we each arrived here, "Sean insisted.

The conch made five very loud toots which could be heard all over the Island.

"Five bells! We're **all** needed," Ashley gulped.

"But I can't go over there," Marco insisted.

"With the Renaissance soup bowl cut and shave I gave you and Sean's extra set of clothes and mocassins that we'll get his okay on later, you'll fit right in!" Ellie insisted.

"Why are you doing this? I can't give you what you want," Marco gulped.

"Look, I met a few oddballs bootlegging with my sister. Even if I feel like makin' whoopee with some guy, that won't take change my wanting to stay friends with you! We're all in this together!" Ellie insisted as she clutched Marco's hand as they and Ashley started walking back over to the other side.

"What's that noise?" J.T asked himself as he entered Liberty's cave and found her nowhere around.

" As long as I'm here I might as well surf the 'Net a bit,"J.T. exclaimed as he threw on the light switch and walked in.

"Whoa! A First Edition Complete Shakespeare! Ms. Kwan would flip for this. I wonder if Liberty got this off E-Bay? "J.T. wondered as he picked it up and saw the inscription.

As a Canadian, he'd lived his whole life with everything written bilingual and he'd picked up a lot more French than he ever admitted to classmates or teachers (as it was considered a bit effeminate and vaguely 'unpatriotic' for by some Ontarian English-speakers to know French). Still, he was floored when he read and understood the French inscription 

To My Brilliant Daughter Liberté from her Papa 

Captain Willem Van Zandt, Nieuw Amsterdam, 1659

"Sean, they're onto her!" Craig gulped.

"I've got to get my friends and get the boat out of here," Emma gulped.

"No! We're over five hundred miles from the nearest spec of land. You have no navigating experience. You'd drown or die of exposure long before you reached it," Sean pleaded.

"Then come with us!" Emma insisted as she grabbed his arm.

"No! I can't! Remember how I told you that if you stayed here too long, you'd have no life to go back to? That's what's keeping all of **us** here," Sean groaned.

" Then run with me into the jungle! We can hide out together!" Emma cried as she pulled Sean.

"Spinner especially knows every square inch of this island. He'd find us in no time!"Sean shuddered.

"What'll we do?" Emma asked.

"There's only one way to do this and that's if you go with us to the Plaza where we can plead your case," Sean insisted as he, Craig and Emma let out major sighs before dejectedly walking back.

Everyone except J.T. had just arrived in the Plaza and Jimmy was stepping up to the gazebo when Emma, clutching Sean's hand for dear life and the two accompanied by Craig suddenly ran into the center of the Plaza.

"Seize her! Seize her!" screamed Paige and Hazel which prompted Spinner to walk towards the trio with his spear in his right hand then put his hand on her right shoulder.

"Wait! Don't push her down! She's a girl!"Craig pleaded.

"He's right, Paige. I can't do that to a girl," Spinner gulped.

"Fine! Haze and I'll push her down,"Paige sneered.

"I'll just kneel!"Emma groaned before anyone else could touch her.

"What are you doing to my friend?" Manny demanded as she came out of Hazel's hut/boutique.

" Your friend ran off farther than she was supposed to-and if she's with Sean, that means she's been to the Other Side," Paige snapped.

"So what! You make it sound as though it's the end of the world," Manny insisted.

"What's going on?"Toby asked Kendra as they were at the Plaza's edge.

" I'm not sure," Kendra honestly replied.

"It could be- and we'll all have softhearted and mushhead Terri to thank for that!" Paige boiled.

"I'm sorry everyone," Terri burst into tears.

" Don't pick on Terri like that!" Craig insisted.

"Yeah, leave her alone, Paige!" Spinner boiled.

"Little Goody Two-Shoes's taking up for," Paige boiled

"Ahem!" Spinner cleared his thoat and pointed to his feet.

"Fine, Goody Two-Feet,then! Why does your rare moments of chivalry have to kick in at the worst times?" Paige fumed.

"Can I go now?" Emma asked.

"No, you need to tell us what you know about us,"Jimmy insisted in a calm but threatening voice.

"I . .. I made a wrong turn and saw the cemetary. .and it's not Terri's fault! I was just picking more onions and trying to see how Sean, J.T, Ashley and Ellie are," Emma explained.

"What did you see?" Jimmy asked.

"I saw all these tombstones with dates going back centuries but all of adults and children. Your parents and siblings, right?" Emma shuddered.

"Yeah some folks' parents," Jimmy groaned.

" So are you people vampires who killed your parents and kid siblings to get immortality?" Emma gulped.

"No, we're all shipwrecked here," Terri calmly explained.

"Ahem!" Ellie cleared her throat.

"Except for her. She came by plane!" Ashley corrected.

"When we got here, everyone was so parched that we couldn't wait to drink the water," Jimmy recalled.

"But too late we discovered that folks past their teens and children under twelve were poisoned by it- and any food that had been watered by the Island's streams and ponds," Sean sighed.

"So how did all of you. .?" Emma asked.

"As best as my analysis can make out, since we're teens, our hormones are at their peak so our reactions have been that as long as we drink the water and eat the food, we never catch any illnesses, cancers or age- EVER!" Liberty gulped.

"You mean like how some folks get hyper but others get zonked by Ritalin?" Toby asked.

"Same chemical compounds can have very different reactions to different people of differing ages," Kendra explained.

"You mean, we'll never get any older and live forever! Oh, Emma! Isn't that wonderful?" Manny squealed.

"It's not right! It's not natural! There's a whole world out there for us," Emma pleaded.

"A whole world? Look at us! We all came from very different backgrounds and would be sworn enemies out there but the Island provides everything we need- forever," Spinner beamed as he held up his spear in a salute.

Kendra and Toby looked at each other and gulped.

"Emma how many times have you railed against the world and how the environment's getting destroyed? Everything here will be perfect forever and so will we!" Manny beamed.

"Haven't you enjoyed growing things?" Terri asked.

"Yes, Terri but I'd rather plant trees to stop deserts spreading in the Sahara. Besides everyone's telling me how selfish I am but how selfish are you people? Living here and keeping the fountain of youth and the cures to all diseases and cancers to yourselves!" Emma boiled.

"Can you imagine what would happen if word got out about this place?" Manny beamed.

"We can and we have!" Jimmy groaned.

" There'd be a mass stampede here of every teen in the world that would make Florida Spring Break look like a ladies' tea!" Paige shuddered.

"There'd be wars fought and every morsel of soil and rock scooped up to analyze and duplicate whatever formula there is," Liberty groaned.

"And we'd be probed and treated worse than lab rats!" Spinner growled.

"I wouldn't say anything," Emma sighed.

"You can't leave here," Jimmy insisted.

"But my mother is. ..We were all we had for so long," Emma burst into tears.

" I know how that goes," Terri sighed as she hugged Emma.

"But Mrs. Simpson's due next month," Toby insisted.

" And Snake's worried sick,too, no doubt," Emma pleaded.

"Snake?"virtually everyone else exclaimed save Manny and Toby said.

"My stepdad, Mr. Archie Simpson. He's a teacher but he got that nickname in junior high and just about all our friends and family call him that," Emma explained.

"Oh, I know that story all too well," Sean groaned.

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"My brother Travis raised me and we started a new life in Nova Scotia while he restored mastheads after our folks landed in Debtors' Prison thanks to their drunkenness. .but then he married this girl named Sarah and they had a new baby. In no time flat, they made it clear that they had a new family and I was a fifth wheel," Sean groaned.

"He ran off and became a stable boy when he was fourteen," Craig insisted.

"That's when we met in Halifax. His father was a cod exporter but he constantly brutally beat him like a carpet," Sean groaned.

"So that's why you ran away here? Why didn't you tell the authorities?"Emma asked.

"Fat lot of good that would have done. Back then, parents could do everything short of murdering their children and the law couldn't touch them,"Sean groaned.

"Since Dad had taken me away from Massachussetts to get away from the War two years before, Sean and I decided to make our way back there to enlist to fight the Redcoats," Craig explained.

"Redcoats? You mean . .. the US American Revolution?" Emma gulped.

"A storm steered our tiny fishing boat way off course and we've been here since 1780!"Sean reflected.

Emma shuddered.

"Hey! If I could court girls my age, I would but there aren't any!" Sean chuckled.

"Besides, why take pride in planting something that will long outlive you when you can stay here, plant a tree and outlive _it_! I planted this sapling 305 years ago!" Spinner laughed as he suddenly threw down his spear, leapt off the ground and swung on a branch of the very large oak bordering the Plaza.

"Yes, oddly enough, the water has no effects on any other animals or plants here- just humans!" Liberty insisted.

"So you've all been here centuries?" Emma gulped while everyone besides Toby, Manny and Ellie nodded.

"Yes, before you pass judgement. Sit down and hear our stories," Jimmy insisted as Emma sat down.

" The hermit. .. Marco was here before me. I think he and his partner arrived in 1493. My Papa was from Holland, Captain Willem Van Zandt. As you can probably tell, my mother was African but he loved her enough to buy her from her owner and free her. They married and to honor her freedom, she insisted he name me Liberté or Liberty in English. She died when I was a toddler and we travelled all over but mainly lived in New Amsterdam until the English took it over and changed the name to New York in 1660. In our family , household and on board Papa's ship, I was treated as a princess and he encouraged me to be as brilliant as possible. We spoke Dutch, French and English in New Amsterdam back then but the harsh reality is that the rest of the world didn't share Papa's doting affection for me. After the English took over, we both considered ourselves Dutch through and through so we decided to move back to Amsterdam but a storm wrecked our ship. Papa and the entire crew drank the water and died in agony but that water has preserved me. .and ever since then I've been using the Island's resources and whatever wreckage the sea brings in to create my own corner of the world with all its good inventions and good works but none of its bad,"Liberty explained while Emma had long since sat down.

"Liberty's lucky. Her father acknowedged and doted on her - mine didn't! I was born in the Virginia Colony in the town of Jamestown about 1662. .and yes, my father was English but my mother was from the Yoruba nation in what's now Nigeria- and she taught me the language. She told me that she'd been a princess there and one day I could go back and be king. She died when I was ten but I clung onto the dream until I was fourteen when I could stand being a slave no more so I snuck into a fishing canoe and sailed down the James River out of the Chesapeake Bay Mouth into the open Atlantic Ocean hoping to reach the Yoruba. Instead, I landed here almost starved and dying of thirst in 1676. Marco took off at that point and I didn't see the point of persuing him. Liberty was never more than my kid sister showing me around and teaching me how to survive here,"Jimmy groaned as he finished his story and Liberty rolled her eyes.

"Terri and I came here from Scotland in when we were fourteen 1681- and while I had some fun times being Jimmy's queen, I can't say I want to go back to that!" Ashley groaned.

"I was born in the Portuguese colony of Macao back in 1671. As far as I know, my biological father was a Dutch sailor and my mother a Portuguese barmaid. Anyhoo, she put me in a Portuguese orphanage at birth there and they contacted the Wangs - tea merchants in nearby Canton who'd been told by an oracle to raise a child born of distant blood. So I was named White Falcon in Chinese (which is what Gavin means in Scots) then Kendra was born two years later. You think being of mixed ancestry on the streets of New Amsterdam was tough, Liberty? Try being European in Chinese silk robes on the streets of Canton back in the 1670's! Since the Portuguese were allies of the English, they recommended my father Tsai to demonstrate how to grow tea in the new English colony of Jamaica back in 1685. We were on our way there when the storm hit ! Only Kendra and I survived. Our folks drowned with all the others on board. Jimmy made me his Viceroy and Liberty enlisted Kendra's help. Kendra learned English before I did!" Spinner sighed.

"I haven't been able to speak my mother tongues with anyone in ages so English is now all I speak. My name is Hazel (originally Hadjah ) Aden and I'm from Mogidishu in what's now Somalia! In 1685, the Portuguese conquered our city and they captured my family. Since I'd been taught Somali, Swahili and Arabic, they didn't want enslave us outright but they sent us to the Azores Islands on the other side of Africa when a storm blew the ship to the Island and I alone survived. I no longer wear the hajib headdress of old but I still pray to Mecca five times daily and avoid pork as a per my Muslim upbringing," Hazel explained.

"I was a Ukranian princess back in 1718 when the Russian Czar Peter the Great enlisted my brother to accompany his entourage on a Grand Tour of Europe and our parents decided this would be a good way to learn to appreciate home so they sent me along! We travelled to London, Paris, Amsterdam but the Czar was totally out-of-line and when my brother Dmitry grabbed the Czar's hand to keep him from grobing me, we knew our days were numbered so we fled Amsterdam in a scooner determined to start a new life in the French colonial settlement of New Orleans (since we could speak French). Instead the storm blew us off course and we landed here. .and Dmitry proved to be too old so the water poisoned him," Paige groaned.

"But we found each other," Spinner insisted while he and Paige hugged.

" Let me see if I have this straight. Marco came in 1493 fleeing Columbus's crew, Liberty in 1660 leaving New York, Jimmy in 1676 to flee Virginia slavery, Terri and Ashley 1681 from Scotland, Spinner, Kendra and Hazel in 1685 from China and Somalia respectively, Paige 1718 from Amsterdam and the Ukraine, Craig and Sean 1780 from Halifax and. .." Emma tried to put together.

"We each added crops and technologies to our Island then came Ellie," Liberty laughed.

"I was the newest kid until you four arrived. Our folks died when I was baby so my big sister Millie raised me and was the biggest flapper around! Yep, back in the 1920's- and flappers were called that on account of them wearing their galoshes unbuckled to conceal illicit booze bottles! Anyway, Charles Lindbergh flew solo to Paris in June '27 so Millie got this idea that we could fly across the Atlantic as the first women pilots- and we could smuggle in as much European booze as possible since customs would be too awed by our feat to inspect the luggage. We set out in August but Millie didn't count on the biplane needing more fuel with extra strong winds so we ran out of juice and crashed here. Millie was too old for the water and didn't survive but I did and I updated things a great deal- with my phonograph record, radio, newsreel camera and my hairdressing skills,"Ellie laughed.

"I thought I'd remembered reading about two sisters named Millie and Ellie Nash trying to fly across the Atlantic but getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Triangle! So this is what's been happening to all those missing boats and planes over the years!" Emma beamed.

"And fifteen years ago, an abandoned cargo ship with tons of computer equipment got here and we've caught up even more to the outside world!" Liberty insisted.

"But aren't you worried about satellites, planes and ships finding you?" Emma asked.

" I can answer that part!" J.T announced- having hidden himself for a time listening to everything.

"J.T.? What are you doing here?" Liberty asked.

"I was wondering the same thing- Miss Shakespeare!" J.T. laughed.

"He ran across that in the cave!" Jimmy groaned.

"The centuries we spent performing plays from that book!" Spinner groaned.

"Timeless classics," Liberty sputtered.

"Liberty, hun, while Ellie's never been my fave, I have to admit it was a relief getting to listen to new plays and songs on her radio!" Paige reflected.

"And we were able to invent our own radar back just before World War Two using those parts," Kendra insisted.

"The NAZIs tried to set up a base here but, the radar gave us warning about their ship and," Jimmy recalled.

"Let's just say, there's a reason why the cemetary has lots of German names from 1943. Hey, they'd bombed the cool city of London and were allied with the Japanese who'd taken over my hometown of Canton and wanted this Island. They didn't count on us defending it!" Spinner laughed while Emma gulped.

"We'd created our own world here! We didn't want the Outside polluting it with its bigotry," Paige insisted.

"Oh, and what do you guys call what you've done to Marco- the Hermit?" Emma boiled.

"He didn't want to be part of us and we didn't see any point in begging him," Spinner shrugged.

"He looked quite horrid with his filth and rags," Paige sniffed.

"That he's scavenged from your dump!" Emma insisted.

" Is this guy really a monster? " Ellie asked as she led him from behind one of the huts he'd been hiding behind.

"It's unbelievable! He looks like a totally new person!" Hazel exclaimed while the others gasped in amazement.

"Yeah, with my clothes and moccasins!" Sean boiled.

"You have other clean clothes. Marco doesn't. Poor thing being stuck in a hovel!" Ellie sighed.

"But why didn't you ever want to be with us?" Jimmy asked.

"You know the answer to that," Marco boiled.

"Okay, I'll admit I didn't like it when you looked at me that time but . .." Jimmy groaned.

" I didn't really mean to but I hadn't seen another man in so long," Marco shuddered.

"Hey, I'd have loved it had he looked at _me_!" Liberty groaned.

" You left us alone and we left you alone. What more could you ask for?" Spinner shrugged.

"Do you know what it's been like hearing your singing,joking and laughing all these centuries- knowing that I wasn't welcome to join you? Did anyone before Ellie ever ask me to join them for a simple cup of cider?" Marco said with his voice breaking.

"We didn't think you'd be interested," Paige groaned.

"You didn't want to believe I was interested!" Marco boiled.

"I'll tell you what. If the rest of the Assembly agrees, we'll vote to let you build a hut here- like these other newcomers will and. ." Jimmy pondered.

"No graci! I think I'd rather stay with my new friends over there. My side of the Island's no longer lonely,"Marco beamed to Ellie and Ashley.

"Ash, you can come back. .." Jimmy insisted.

"Maybe someday but right now I want to get to know me- and I can do that better away from everyone's prying eyes over here," Ashley insisted.

"But you're my queen," Jimmy gulped.

"What we had was great when it was fun but it's over now and if that means someone else gets the crown and I have to start from scratch. So be it," Ashley swallowed hard.

"Ashley, I'm sorry about earlier! I remember when Craig and I broke up, I felt horrible turning my back on those 150 years we had but we've become better friends than ever before and we can each move forward," Terri insisted as she clutched Ashley's hand.

"Yeah, the same thing happened when it was over with Sean and me after 170 years!" Hazel recalled.

"All this lovey-dovey talk's making me barf! We still haven't decided on what to do about Emma and the others," Paige boiled.

"I . .I'll stay but. .I just wish there was some way I could tell Mom and Snake goodbye and how much I love them and my unborn half-sibling one more time," Emma cried.

"Emma! We can't be selfish! We've got to join the others in protecting this spot from the world and vice versa," Manny insisted.

"It's amazing what Liberty and Kendra have developed. They have an anti-satellite jamming system that somehow makes this Island stay camoflaged as empty ocean to the world's satellites!" J.T exclaimed in awe.

" A few centuries of uninterrupted study and testing can be a wonderful thing- but not as good as seeing you back here!" Liberty beamed while J.T. gulped.

"But if all of us left here and didn't tell anyone about Degrassi, what would happen then?" Emma asked.

"We'd age like everyone else in the world- no faster or slower. If we tried to return here after our bodies considered us eighteen, we'd die a choking, agonizing death from the water like poor Sal did after being in the world 40 years before he returned to me," Marco groaned.

"So are you going to be with us or against us, Emma?" Jimmy asked.

Emma almost strained herself thinking very hard.

"Well, the world does need a refuge from rapists, thugs,terrorism, and pollution among a zillion other woes and I'd hate for my actions to spoil everything for everyone here and around the world. I guess I'll stay and be part of the Village- even though I'll always miss Mom and Snake," Emma groaned with a very deep sigh.

At once everyone there (including Emma's original friends) let out a big cheer as the Village proceeded to welcome them amongst them! Sean, Spinner, Jimmy and Craig tossed Emma on their shoulders and proceeded to parade her around- then did the same with Manny, J.T. and Toby (though the latter two were sure Spinner punched their shins in a subtly hostile way).

"Wow! That was amazing Kendra!" Toby beamed as the Village was restored.

"Yeah, so you don't mind me being three centuries older?" Kendra asked.

"Nah, I find older women quite alluring," Toby flirted.

"Just remember that my body's twelve and you'd better not cross the line," Kendra warned.

"I just wish I could forget about those readings," Toby groaned.

"Same here but Liberty said that it might not happen for another century. By that time, we'll build a big enough boat," Kendra insisted.

"I'm really happy you're staying- and thanks for showing us by what you did for Marco," Sean insisted as he went to hug Emma.

"I guess," Emma shuddered as she pulled back.

"What's wrong?" Sean asked.

" I just have the feeling that there has to be more to life than just sitting on an Island forever avoiding growing up- and the world. Oh, Mom!" Emma sniffed as she hugged Sean.


	7. Trial By Fire

"Trial By Fire' (Chapter Seven)

by Ennon

A/N- Same dislaimers about Degrassi and its characters being Epitome's and not mine and my getting no profits from this AU fanfic.

Thanks for your reviews Kelly (sorry for the name mix-up earlier) and sarbearturtle

. Also, we get some other folks Emma,etc. has previously known on the scene here.

A week had passed and Ellie was helping Marco make his hovel more livable by helping him clean it for the first time in ages.

"You sure collected lots of stuff these past five hundred years!" Ellie remarked.

"I guess I've been using things to make up for not being around people," Marco shrugged.

"What's this? It looks like a large stone marker but I've never seen this kinda lingo!" Ellie exclaimed as she dragged out an ancient fishing net covering the item on the floor.

"It's a rune stone left here by the first explorers to Degrassi-a trio of Viking saga singers who came here about 1000AD on the way to Vinland! They called themselves the Eczema Tonic!" Marco remarked.

"Hmm, that's some sketch on it! Hey, Emma come in here. Take a gander at this!"Ellie shouted.

"What is it?" Emma asked as she was sweeping the trail.

"Look at those Vikings with harp,horn and drum!" Ellie laughed.

"You know, the tall one looks very familiar!"Emma gulped.

"That's the leader. One Aberg Rurik Svensen,"Marco explained.

"It's time for me to get back to help Terri with lunch. See you two at the table!" Emma gulped- as she ran off shaking her head thinking it odd that the tall harp player was depicted with a tattoo of a snake on his right bicep.

"Why did you hide it?" Ellie asked.

"Because after Liberty translated the words, Spinner used it to start some cult and, after a century or so, the others snuck over and asked me to get rid of this stone but since it's history, I couldn't . I put it in my hovel- the one place I knew Spinner would never dare look!" Marco laughed.

An hour later, everyone was fueling up from their various chores at lunch when an odd sound was heard in the background.

"A helicopter! We're saved!" Emma squealed.

"NO! We must get into the jungle surrounding the clearing immediately!" Jimmy ordered as the others were already running towards it.

" But. ." Emma gulped while Manny and Paige quickly dragged her with them into the hidden part.

"What happened with your jamming device?" Jimmy whispered to Liberty.

"It's on the fritz today," Liberty whispered back.

"And have you noticed how the livestock have been jittery today?" Terri whispered.

"The thing's about to land!" Spinner gulped as he climbed into the nearest tree to the clearing with a spear in his teeth.

"Our corn field!" Kendra wailed as the large Canadian Royal Air Force helicopter landed.

" We have enough food stored until we can regrow it," Ashley consoled.

"The helicopter door's opening!" Emma whispered.

"Stay quiet! We can't let them find us!" Manny pleaded as the engine stopped and the rotor blades slowed down.

A tall blonde woman in red slacks and a sleeveless green halter top and elevated mule shoes emerged accompanied by a short shaven head man in blue jeans, boots and a Hawaiian shirt leading out a small girl in blue shorts, red t-shirt and sandals.

"Joey, Caitlin and Angela!" Manny whispered with a gulp.

"And this island's not an any maps? Looks like someone lives here! You think they may know where Emma and the others are?" Joey Jeremiah asked.

"I dunno but it's gorgeous!"Caitlin Ryan beamed.

"Can I run down to the beach now?" Angela Jeremiah asked.

"It looks like a steep trail to it, baby, but you stay with us while we ask around. So, Caitlin, you think this would be a good spot for a _honeymoon_!" Joey asked while hugging her and raising his eyebrows.

"Manny, they've come all this way looking for us," Emma gulped as Manny tightened her grasp.

"Emma, I don't want to leave here!" Manny pleaded.

"Looks safe from here! Let's have a look around!" Caitlin shouted to the inside.

"How'd you like your first helicopter ride, honey?" Joey asked Angela.

"It was fun but next time could you make it quieter? I couldn't hear the sound on my 'Dora the Explorer' DvD!"Angela exclaimed as she put down the mini-DvD player.

"Spike, you sure you can do this?" Caitlin asked.

" We've come too far for me to turn back now," Spike replied steading herself as she emerged from the helicopter.

"Manny! Stay if you like" Emma boiled as she stomped on Manny's foot then bolted when Manny let go her grip.

"Mom, Joey, Caitlin, Angela! You've found me!" Emma cried as she ran towards them- hugging her very pregnant mother Christine 'Spike' Nelson Simpson.

" You think we'd write you off just because the Bermudan Coast Guard called off the search, baby?"Spike cried as she hugged back.

"Where are your friends?" Caitlin asked.

"Um.. .they couldn't make it. Let's go! Now!" Emma pleaded as she pulled Spike's hand and tried to drag her back into the helicopter.

"Hold on, young lady! Where did you get those red overalls?" Spike asked.

"Um.. Bermuda. Let's go!" Emma gulped.

"That's not what they reported you wearing. Tell the truth!" Spike insisted.

"Ange? Come back here!" Joey insisted as his 6-year-old daughter ran off towards the plaza- and saw a banana that had fallen onto the ground and picked it up.

"Angela! No! That's **poison**!" Manny screamed as she ran out of the jungle while Emma also ran towards Angela.

"But I'm hungry," Angela cried as she peeled the banana.

Manny dived onto the ground like she was diving for home plate and grabbed the banana out of Angela's hand before she had a chance to put it in her mouth then stomped on it while Emma pulled Angela back in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry!" Angela cried.

"Ange, you know you're not supposed to eat what you haven't been given but. ..ladies, aren't you overreacting?" Joey gulped as he hugged Angela.

"Um. .we're just trying to teach her a lesson. Well, Emma, it's been good knowing you . Say goodbye to my parents," Manny pleaded in tears as she ran back towards the jungle.

"Manny, come back here! You're crazy if you think we're going to tell the Santoses that we left you on some unchartered island!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"I'll get her!" Joey insisted.

"Angela, let's join my Mom and get back into the helicopter,"Emma insisted as she started to walk back towards Spike.

"[SCREAM] A native!" Caitlin screamed as she saw Spinner in the tree balancing on the branch ten feet above them with his spear in his right hand.

"Hey, punk, don't you be spooking my lady!" Joey yelled as Spinner jumped out of the tree.

" All of you! OUT! And don't EVER come back or tell anyone about the Island!" Spinner snarled as he waved his spear.

"We're not leaving until we find Manny along with the Isaacs and Yorke boys!"Joey insisted.

"You're telling **me** what to do, short stuff?" Spinner laughed as he waved his hand over Joey's head.

"Hey! Some respect for your elders, kid!" Joey boiled.

"Elders? Dude, that's _rich_! You embryo" Spinner laughed.

"Quit pointing your toy at me,"Joey insisted as he grabbed at Spinner's spear.

"Now you've got me totally pissed!" Spinner snarled as he made a fist and was ready to punch Joey who'd put up his own fists when. .

"Spinner, don't hit the man in front of his child. I can see he's a good father and it'll traumatize her," Craig insisted as he tried to get between Spinner and Joey.

"I'm a lover not a fighter but I'll make exceptions with you two!" Spinner snarled as he swung at Craig but Craig jumped just before it connected. 

"Guys, I've finished the landing procedures," Archie 'Snake' Simpson exclaimed as he emerged from the helicopter in a flight suit suit,helmet and boots.

"It's him! The blood of Aberg Rurik Svensen returns!" Spinner exclaimed as he immediately kowtowed on the ground and started to bow at Snake's boots.

"Not again," whispered Kendra to Toby.

"Spinner, give it up!" hissed Paige while still in the jungle.

"You're just mad because that cult took attention away from your cult," Terri whispered.

"Spinner, what are you doing?" Jimmy stage-whispered from the edge of the clearing

"Kahuna! The Great Viking who first discovered us has sent his blood to bring our people a new era! We must all bow down and fete him!" Spinner insisted.

"Kids, what's going on?"Snake asked.

"Oh, no! I'd hoped he'd forgotten. The cult's back! I'm leaving!"Marco exclaimed in disgust as he walked away.

"You thought we'd forgotten oh Viking but we will prepare a feast then offer up these four zygotes in your honor, dude !"Spinner exclaimed.

"Zygotes? What are you talking about?"Snake asked.

" Snake, I think he means us," Emma groaned.

Paige started pushing Manny back out of jungle but Manny herself grabbed J.T. and Toby-by the earlobes.

"Ow! Watch that!" J.T. snarled as he got dragged by Manny.

"If I have to leave here against my will so does everyone else!" Manny fumed.

"Look, can't we just take them back with us and forget the ceremony?" Spike asked.

"And what's up with calling the kids zygotes and me an embryo?" Joey fumed.

"I'm not sure,"Caitlin shrugged.

"All subjects must greet him at once- or prepare to spend eternity enduring the Viking's Shaman's wrath!" Spinner boiled- as he pointed to himself.

The others emerged into the clearing somewhat reluctantly.

"Where are your parents?" Spike asked.

"We don't have any just leave please!" Ashley begged.

"They can't leave until they've given us an audience and prove themselves to be of the Blood of Aberg Svensen,"Spinner shrugged.

" What's going on here?" Caitlin asked Snake.

"My Great-Grandpa Svensen told me about a Viking ancestor who got stranded on an uncharted island with his friends when he was fifteen- and returned home sixty years later not having aged a day,"Snake gulped recalling the memory.

"Why did they leave?" Joey asked.

"They couldn't find dates," Snake replied.

"And you believed him?" Spike asked.

"Nah, Mom used to have to lock up the paper napkins when he came to visit. He ate 'em like candy!" Snake explained.

"Wait! If they eat anything they'll get poisoned along with any other adults and kids under twelve who come here!" Emma pleaded.

"They must prove their birthright- or never leave this Island!" Spinner warned waving the spear. 

"Wait! I think there's another way for them to prove their birthright that doesn't involve them risking getting poisoned," Liberty exclaimed.

"She's right! J. T. bring the mask from my hut if you any of you to live," Spinner growled.

J.T. ran as fast as he could, tripping a few times but retrieved the 3-foot tall warrior mask that had been haunting him and Toby since they'd had to sleep in Spinner's hut.

"What does this mask prove?" Paige whined.

"Here it is!"Spinner exclaimed as he took out a large piece of paper from behind the mask.

" A flysheet from the 'Washington Post' exclaiming Abraham Lincoln's Assassination? Where'd you get this?" Joey asked.

"It washed up in a trunk about twenty ye. ..days after my first camera washed ashore," Craig explained- as Spinner turned around the flysheet to reveal. .

"You did a rubbing of the Eczema Tonic Runestone on the blank backside of the flysheet?" Paige wailed- while Joey gulped when he saw the cardboard backed photograph on the border of the rubbing.

It depicted Craig[holding a corded remote camera bulb in his right hand], Spinner, Sean and Jimmy at the shore shaking wearing collared shirts, suit trousers rolled up at the knees, and stovepipe hats with the caption Jimmy was shaking hands and Spinner had his right hand on the shoulder of a distinguished-looking mustached genteman in a planter's suit with his suit trousers also rolled up at the knees- with the caption _'Had a Hoppin' Good Time Here and Won't Tell a Soul- Sam Clemens (Mark Twain),186_7'.

"Oh, you saw our gag photo!" Craig nervously laughed.

"Um. .yeah. Guys let's not eat or drink anything while we're here," Joey gulped.

"Here's the rubbing and it says that the Eczema Tonic led by Aberg Svensen of the Snake Banner sang a song about how all souls crave an undetermined object they'll never forsake," Spinner exclaimed.

"So, you're saying that if we sing this song, it'll prove our bloodline and we can take these 'zygotes' with us?" Snake asked.

"You got it, dude!" Spinner laughed.

"Please don't!" Emma begged.

"In the name of humanity," Manny groaned while J.T. and Toby plugged their ears.

"I thought we wrote the song," Joey insisted.

"It's just a coincidence but let's go with it! Spike, Caitlin, could you join us at this gazebo?" Snake asked.

"Sure why not?" Caitlin laughed while Snake helped Spike take the steps.

"We present the Zit Remedy!" Joey exclaimed as the four started dancing then singing the song that plagued Emma starting with. . ..

Everybody wants something/

They'll never give up!

Everyone but Spinner listened to them with pained expressions on their faces until they finished the song.

"BRAVO! Subjects, I said! BRAVO!" Spinner growled as he gave them a standing ovation all on his own.

"Great! Now, we'll take all of you out of here," Snake insisted.

"You can only take the zygotes- and you can't ever tell anyone else about this island," Spinner ordered.

"There's plenty of room in the fuselage for everyone here and we can't leave you to your own devises," Spike insisted.

Suddenly the ground shook very violently then a rumbling sound was heard

"Hmmph! I don't think it was such a good idea for you to revive that stupid cult," Paige sniffed.

"Why?" Spinner asked.

"That's why!" Paige yelled as she pointed to Mt. Hesphestion summit crater erupting.

"THE VOLCANO!" everyone screamed.

" I thought you said this wouldn't happen for another hundred years?" Toby wailed to Liberty.

" I said within the next century.This counts!" Liberty gulped.

"Let's run into the cave!" J.T. yelled.

"It's a lava tube! It was good for riding out hurricanes but it's probably all melted now!" Liberty groaned.

" Rivers of lava are pouring down the sides! Quick! Get in the helicopter or you'll be cinders!" Joey yelled and dragged Spinner and Sean (neither of whom gave any resistance) with him while Craig carried Angela and ran along with all the others.

"Mom! Are you sure you're okay!" Emma pleaded as she and Caitlin half carried the heavily pregnant Spike back into the helicopter.

"Yeah! Snake! We've got to get out of here! It's time!" Spike insisted.

"It is?" Snake gulped as he ran in carrying Spinner's mask and started up the engine.

"No not for that! The volcano's about to wipe out!" Spike pleaded as she pointed first to her abdomen then to the volcano.

They all ran into the helicopter and sat on both sides of the bench aisle.

"Is everyone here?" Joey asked as the helicopter started to clear the ground.

"I think so," Toby considered.

"NO! Marco isn't! He's on the other side of the Island but are you sure you can get this tin can there in time?" Ellie asked.

"I'll do my best but it'll be cutting it close!" Snake insisted as they flew away watching the first river of lava make its way towards the village.

The helicopter got to the other side in five minutes- so they were spared having to see the lava river wipe out their Village.

" I don't see him anywhere near his hovel," Jimmy gulped as he looked through Snake's binoculars as they landed in a clearing next to it.

" Any luck with the Garbage Dump?" Sean asked 

"No! Where could he be?" Terri asked.

" The Cemetary!" Ellie screamed- which was in the direct path of another river of lava due to flow over it in less than a minute.

Snake took off again then flew over there.

"Can't we land this?" Craig asked.

"No, there's no flat place near the tombstones and we're directly in the lava path so if we don't stay aloft we may never leave!" Snake explained.

"Marco! Come with us!"Ellie pleaded as she opened the door while they hovered over him.

"No! I must stay with Salvatore and his Island!" Marco yelled back as he hugged the tombstone.

"But you'll be killed!" Ashley screamed.

" There's no place for me in the Outside World," Marco yelled.

"Things have changed! " Emma yelled.

"Yeah Ontario lets men and women marry their own genders," J.T. yelled.

"No way!" Marco yelled.

"Way! Grab onto my hand and. ." Spinner pleaded while Snake tipped the helicopter towards Marco but Spinner lost his footing and grabbed the railing with his hands and feet- just as the lava stream was two feet away!

Marco grabbed the railing and was able to pull himself into the helicopter fuselage then grabbed Spinner's right hand and helped him into the fuselage in spite of being somewhat shorter and smaller than Spinner.

Everyone cheered as they helped the two settle in the fuselage.

"You were going to save my life," Marco gulped in awe.

""If I'd slipped a few more inches and my a-- wouldda been ash! Can you forgive me for not welcoming you?" Spinner gulped.

"Sure, friend!" Marco insisted as they shook hands.

At that everyone cheered.

"All right everyone! Let's roll! We're taking her out of here!" Snake proclaimed.

"The lava's stopped flowing! We can go home!" Jimmy insisted- when they'd flown about ten miles away.

"No, it's still way too hot for that!" Snake insisted.

"Do you think we could wait this out in Bermuda then the rest of us could return when Festy's cooled down?" Paige asked.

"Look, Daddy! Craig! The mountain's like a _balloon_!"exclaimed Angela.

"Impossible, baby," Joey shrugged.

"Joey, she's right," Caitlin gulped as she could see the volcano swelling quite dramatically.

"Snake, get us out of here NOW! Mt. St. Helen's!" Spike pleaded while Snake accelerated the speed as fast as he could.

"Vancouver, this is IT!" Joey yelled.

Then, about twenty miles from the helicopter it happened. . the entire volcano and Degrassi Island itself EXPLODED!

Millions of tons of debris, lava, soil, rock,etc. were thrown many miles into the atmosphere.

"Our homes!" Hazel wailed.

"Our livestock!" Terri cried.

"My wardrobe," Paige cried.

"Our lives!" Jimmy solemly proclaimed as he hugged the girls.

"Cover your ears and drop your jaws! There's going to be a noise louder than any rock concert coming this way in a minute! We're not in the clear yet!"Snake yelled.

At that time, the sound waves came and shook the helicopter quite violently.

"Make sure every window and door's sealed!" Snake yelled.

"It's night!" gasped Hazel.

"No, the dust from the volcano's shut out the sunlight," Caitlin explained.

They soon heard dust, then pebbles but soon large rocks fall against the helicopter.

"We're losing altitude! Hold on, tight! MayDay! We're going down at ___Latitude and ___Longtitude. We're getting Engine Fail lights! A volcano's exploded at sea! Tidal waves may follow!" Snake called to the headset while everyone strapped themselves in. Sean hugged Emma who hugged Spike who put one hand on her belly and the other on Emma's shoulder.

"Daddy!" Angela cried.

Lightning was seen to flash all around them in the otherwise opaque black cloud of ash,dust and the vaporized ocean reacting to the large newly open wound of magma on its floor.

"Don't worry! We'll be okay!" Joey insisted as he hugged her and Caitlin.

"Daylight! We flew out of it! We can make it back to the carrier," Snake exclaimed as everyone else cheered.

They turned around and saw behind them a terrible, angry cloud covering the sky as far as they could see behind them- at 8000 feet in altitude.

"Our old life ends but God has spared us for a new one," Ashley solemnly proclaimed as they saw the edge of the volcanic cloud disappear over the horizon as they flew away.

"You didn't tell me Mr. Simpson was a RCN pilot," Manny gasped to Emma.

"There's a lot more to him than meets the eye,"Emma laughed.

" He joined the Royal Canadian Navy to help with his student loans when studying to be a teacher but has been in reserves the past few years. Just a weekend a month and two weeks every summer until now! After this flight, Snake retires his wings, " Spike proudly exclaimed as she walked up to the cockpit and put Snake's free hand momentarily on her abdomen.

"We're coming to an aircraft carrier," Toby gulped.

"An RCN one. A mere three hundred miles from Degrassi Island- and our destination! We're on Canadian territory now, people! Commander, we have some other personel we extracted from the uncharted volcano. They were stranded there." Snake insisted as he landed the helicopter on the deck and radioed ahead.

"What's going to happen to us?" Jimmy asked.

"There's no trace of Degrassi Island left and in a few days, we'll pass its chemical compounds out of our systems and join the rest of the human race aging a day every day! " Liberty explained.

"We're free of the Island and keeping its secret from destroying the world!" Sean cheered.

"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone the whole story," Caitlin exclaimed- as she clutched Craig's hand.

"Besides, who'd believe a teacher, hairdresser, reporter and used-car salesman anyway?" Joey laughed- at that Spike and Caitlin playfully swatted him as the helicopter hatch was opened and several officers climbed inside.

"Officer, these twelve juvenile personell have no papers or identifying listings but were found on the previously uncharted island called Degrassi that has since exploded off the face of the earth," Snake explained as he saluted.

"Very well, we'll debrief them," the first officer( a man) exclaimed.

"You twelve this way,"the other officer (a woman) exclaimed while Emma quickly hugged Sean, Manny quickly hugged Craig, Toby quickly hugged Kendra and Liberty quickly hugged J.T (who didn't resist) before the four friends were separated from the longtime former Degrassians.

"Bud, I'm impressed with your expert chopper handling and your cool demeanor throughout that crazy flight. Way to go, amigo!" Joey exclaimed as he shook Snake's hand.

"The officers are gone and we've safely landed, right?" Snake asked.

"Sure," Spike exclaimed as she, Emma and Caitlin hugged him.

At that Snake shuddered and collapsed from the tidal wave of emotion he'd kept under wraps until everyone was safe.

"Em, time to wake up!" Spike shouted and nudged her daughter.

"Mom, please don't tell me I just pulled a Pam Ewing," Emma groaned as she took a book about the Bermuda Triangle mystery off her covers.

"I'm surprised you'd want to read that considering what you and your friends went through last month!" Spike laughed.

"You. .mean that us getting on the Island for a week with a lost tribe of immortal teens, them thinking Snake a reincarnation and him flying us away right when the volcano exploded was . ..real?" Emma gulped.

"Yeah,sleepyhead" Spike laughed.

"Oh, I can't thank you and Snake for getting us out of there. If you hadn't gotten there when we did. .." Emma shuddered while she and Spike hugged.

" I know, baby," Spike nodded.

"Still, there were people I liked overall- especially that Sean! I hope things turned out okay for them," Emma recalled as she and Spike let go.

"Just remember. Baby or not, no matter what happens, you'll always be a full member of our family and we'll stop at nothing to keep you safe!" Spike insisted as they hugged again.

" Same here! I love you,too, Mom! I guess I'd better get ready for school," Emma said with a big intake of breath.

"Our first day back. It's going to hard coming back after all that's happened," Manny insisted as they were about to round the corner for school.

"I know but the four of us will have an easier time than. .." Emma considered.

"True that! I hope they'll be able to adjust to the Outside World. Oh, I don't know how I'll get through without Craig," Manny gulped.

"Morning, ladies! " J.T beamed as he and Toby caught up to them.

"You seem happy!" Emma insisted.

"Those pictures I took with the cell-phone camera of Degrassi Island exploding and us flying through the dust cloud not only gave our project mucho extra credit- they set off a bidding war between CNN and Discovery Canada so I was able to use that to pay Dad back for the borrowed boat in Bermuda," J.T. beamed.

"Everything worked out for you after all," Manny laughed.

"Not really. The folks pocketted the rest saying I need it for college but I'm not counting on seeing it again," J.T. groaned.

"Wait'll I tell you what happened at my house," Toby groaned.

"Something tells me that we may find a few answers," Emma pointed to the school sign as they rounded the corner.

"They've changed the name to. .. _Degrassi_?"Manny gasped while the others nearly fainted.

"Look- by the lockers! It's them!" Emma gasped.

All twelve of the Degrassi Islanders were there but no longer in their Island gear- instead wearing typical contemporary clothes. Manny, Emma, Toby and J.T. all ran to the group.

"What happened?" J.T. asked.

"Remember Mr. Simpson mentioning a Commander when he landed on board the aircraft carrier?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, but. ." Manny replied in puzzlement.

"The man's name is Raditch. In addition to being an RCN Reserve Commander, he's principal here and has a ton of connections!" Jimmy started to explain.

"So how. .?" Emma asked.

" He got us all Canadian passports and new identities!" Craig beamed as Manny hugged him.

"We're now teens for real and we're getting raised by new parents and guardians until we reach our . .new ages of eighteen!" Sean insisted.

"Oh, it's wonderful. They found a couple named MacGregor to adopt me and I have two parents again!" Terri squealed.

A/N- Yes, faithful readers, I know D:TNG Terri is actually being raised by her widowed father who she appears to have remote ties with but I like the character so I'm giving her this break in this AU.

"And I got adopted by parents with a penthouse apartment!"Jimmy gloated.

" We got adopted together by this couple named Mason," Spinner related while putting his hand on Kendra's shoulder.

"And you should see the looks on everyone's faces when we walk through Chinatown and Spinner replies to the folks there in _Chinese_!"Kendra laughed.

"I got adopted by Joey Jeremiah! It turns out that his late wife Julia's name was Manning before he married her so she and Angela are the direct descendents of my baby cousin Anna. I used to babysit Anna now Angela!" Craig laughed.

"Do you want to tell or shall I?" Ashley asked.

"Vampire got adopted by this older divorced woman who then moved in with my Dad and me!" Toby groaned.

"But we have parents again! This will give a chance to adjust to the Outside World before our bodies turn eighteen with folks to look out and care for us! Isn't that wonderful?" Terri beamed.

"Oh, yeah! Just love dealing with curfews!" Sean groaned.

"And we're getting homework," Marco sighed.

"And having to wear shoes," Spinner growled.

"You boys are such babies! Our monthly visitors returned after all this time!"Liberty groaned while all the other Islander girls nodded.

"Tampons again!" Paige seethed- looking directly at Emma.

"Yeah, but you only have to use those once a month! I'm having to get used to these coffins everyday!" Spinner pleaded- at that the guys walked away and all the girls (including Emma and Manny) walked over and, together, physically picked up Spinner and carried him over to an extra large locker (made especially for a the marching band's tuba and drum player).

"NO! Not that! I get claustrophobia!" Spinner pleaded as they stuffed him in there.

"You take back what you said!" Kendra boiled.

"AH! I surrender!" Spinner pleaded as they walked off.

Mr. Raditch walked by and heard Spinner's yelling then opened the locker. .

"Dude, ketchup!" Spinner proclaimed as he was being let out and held up a ketchup bottle that was somehow inside the locker.

FIN


End file.
